


Can We Pretend

by musiclove915



Series: Melodramatic Musical [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cheating, Friends when Younger, Lawyer Peter Hale, M/M, Mentioned Kate Argent, Past Child Abuse, Past Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Unemployed Chris Argent, blink and you miss it Sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musiclove915/pseuds/musiclove915
Summary: After a lunch with an old friend, Chris came to realize that some things from the past aren’t meant to stay there. But after so many years away, can he fix his mistakes or just create new ones.
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Chris Argent & Peter Hale, Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Chris Argent/Victoria Argent, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Melodramatic Musical [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725958
Comments: 22
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse any mistakes, I tried to find them but a few might have slipped through. And also sorry if anyone doesn't like that I left this story open ended, I just didn't want to give it a 'this is how the story should end' ending. I think it makes it more interesting. Anyway, this one is based on the song 'Can We Pretend' by P!nk. I had a clear story in my head of where it was going but it kind of got away from me. But I actually like where the story went, more than what it was originally going to be. Thanks again for reading and until next time.

It was weird for Chris to be back in Beacon Hills after almost 20 years. A lot had changed but at the same time, nothing had. The high school he’d graduated from looked the same, just with a few new additions and a marquee. A new movie theater had replaced an old diner, the old movie theater was now a strip mall, and the diner he was in used to be a convince store.

Even the people were the same. Sure, they were older and had careers and families but for the most part they were almost exactly the same. One of his best friends in high school, John Stilinski, was the Sheriff in town. He had a son that reminded Chris of how John had been at that age. John denied it, but Chris remembered. Or Melissa Delgado, or McCall as she was currently called, was a nurse with a son of her own. She was the first person Chris had seen when he went back.

But he was waiting for the one person he hadn’t seen since being back.

The bell above the door rang, breaking him from his thoughts. He watched a young couple with a kid walk in. They looked happy; they probably were. They most likely talked about their problems, listened to each other, still…

Chris shook his head and looked at his watch. 10 minutes late. That wasn’t like—

The bell rang again.

There he was. Peter Hale. His sunglasses obscured his eyes, but Chris knew he was staring right at him. A cold chill went through him.

For a second, Peter didn’t look like his normal confident self, but that quickly changed as he moved over to Chris’ booth. He slid in gracefully, never taking off his glasses.

“Hey Peter.” A small tentative smirk crossed Chris’ lips.

Peter didn’t say anything, his face stoic.

“How have you been?”

“Good,” Peter snapped the word out. After a moment, he sighed and took off his glasses. “And you?”

Chris was silent for a moment, entranced by the blue eyes across from him. “I’ve been better. How’s your family?”

Peter glared. “Been better,” he practically growled. Chris wished he hadn’t asked. At least not his early into the conversation. “How’s your sister?” Every word dripped with acid.

“Dead.”

“Good.”

A silence fell over the table, only being interrupted by the waitress asking for their orders. They both ordered a coffee, but Peter asked for a basket of onion rings. Chris smiled; it was like the old times.

Peter noticed the smile. “I’m not sharing.”

Silence again.

The waitress came back putting the two cups and basket on the table. Peter slide the basket closer to himself, grabbing an onion ring and taking a big bite of it.

Silence yet again.

“I heard about your father.” Peter said. It was a statement, like he was talking about the weather. It was just filler to break the silence.

“Yeah,” Chris sighed. “That’s why I’m back in town.”

“How long?”

“A week.”

Peter nodded. He glanced down at Chris’ hand holding the cup. “How’s your wife handling everything?”

Chris rolled his eyes. This wife, Victoria, was distraught. It was almost like it was _her_ father that had passed. She kept going on and on about Gerald, like he was a god. It was infuriating, mostly because she didn’t know what he was like, what he was actually like. He shook his head to get the memories out.

“She’s at home,” he said matter-of-factly. “She’ll be down for the funeral and then she’ll be going back the next day.”

“What about your daughter?”

Chris snorted. “She doesn’t really remember him.”

“What? I know for a fact your father visited you a lot.”

“After Allison was 7 or 8 I’d away send her to a family friend whenever he’d visit. I didn’t need him in her life.” He mostly wanted Allison to never know her grandfather. Chris wanted her to think of Gerald as just a normal happy grandpa, not the manipulative, controlling monster of a man.

“That’s smart.”

“Well, it was too late for me.”

The basket of rings were slid closer to him. He looked at them and then at Peter. Chris grabbed one and bit into it. Just like old times.

“You still working at your father’s company?” Peter asked grabbing another ring.

“No, I sold it off.”

Peter starting coughing. Chris was about to help but was stopped by Peter putting up his hand. “I’m fine,” he croaked. “Next time warn a guy.”

Chris smiled. “Didn’t know I had to.”

“What do you mean you sold off your dad’s company? That was his pride and joy.” That was true. Gerald Agrent only loved a few things in his life, one of them being his company, Agrent Arms. It became one of the largest manufacturers of guns and ammunition in the United States. If he wasn’t at home, or church, Gerald was at work. Growing up, Chris knew he was at the bottom of his father’s list of things he loved, but no matter it still hurt knowing it. That’s why, at the first chance, Chris sold the company to his father’s leading competition, Alpha Ammo. “How’d he take that?”

“Well, he _is_ dead.”

Peter just stared at Chris. After a few seconds, he laughed. A laugh that Chris hadn’t heard in a long time. And a laugh so loud it actually started to attract attention. He eventually quieted down, wiping his eyes. “I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.”

Chris couldn’t stop smiling. It was good to talk with Peter again. It was like everything was back to normal.

His smile faded. It could never be normal.

“How is your family?” Chris asked again.

“Talia’s good. She married Richard about a year after. They had three kids.”

“Really? That’s good to hear.” Chris took a sip of his chilling coffee. “I know you’re dying to tell me about them.”

“You know me.” He chuckled. “Two nieces and a nephew.” Peter took a sip of his own coffee as if he was going to be talking for a while. And if Chris still knew Peter, that’s exactly what was going to happen.

***

An hour later, Chris and Peter were still in the same table, now littered with a few discard plates and a nearly empty coffee carafe. They talked about college, their careers (or Chris’ lack of one) and everything they could think of. Though their chat, Chris learned that Peter followed in his father’s and sister’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer. They even had a firm in town. Chris talked about a bit about his old company, but quickly moved to hobbies he took up since leaving, like metalwork and carpentry. They talked about old friends that Peter still kept in contact with, mostly the ones that were still in town. Chris learned about John’s wife passing a few years past, and that Melissa’s husband, now ex, wasn’t in the picture. Peter even regaled Chris with stories of his nieces and nephew, telling stories that would most likely embarrass them. Chris told his own stories about his daughter, pride in voice telling the other how smart and funny Allison was.

“So what are you going to do for work now?” Peter asked, pouring the last of the coffee into his cup.

“Don’t know.” Chris hadn’t really thought past selling the company what he’d do. It wasn’t like he’d ever worked anywhere other than for his father, but he did have a degree. He could go back to school or go work for another company. The downside to either of those options was there’d be a severe pay cut. Going back to school seemed like a better decision since Chris couldn’t picture himself working 9 to 5 again. “Should probably tell Victoria before I plan anything else.”

Peter stared at him again. “You keep surprising me, Agrent. Why haven’t you told her?”

He shrugged. “It hasn’t come up.”

“Well, how do you think she’ll take it?”

“She’ll probably divorce me.”

Peter paused, looking up. It was like he was analyzing Chris. “You don’t seem too broken up about that.”

Chris shrugged again. “So, what about you?” Peter raised an eyebrow. “You seeing anyone?”

Peter laughed. “No, a few flings here and there but nothing concrete.”

“Why’s that?”

“You know why.” Peter said quietly.

Chris looked up and saw a vulnerability that he’d never seen before. Peter was always the epitome of confidence; most would call him cocky. But Chris knew better. Peter walked through life like nothing bothered him. In all the years that Chris knew Peter, he could count on one hand that he’d ever seen Peter anywhere close to this. And the last time he did was a few months before he left Beacon Hills.

“I’m sorry.” Chris whispered. At that moment, he didn’t know what he was apologizing for. Was it because Peter didn’t have anyone? Was it because Chris did? Or was it because Chris left?

“You know,” Peter said, the confidence back in his voice, “I remember doing this a lot.”

“Doing what?”

“Talking like this. I remember dancing on tables too.” They both laughed. “Taking so many pictures. Laughing. Crying. Dancing.” Peter looked right at Chris. “Dying.” Chris tried not to flinch. “I don’t know why we walked away.”

“Honestly? We liked not knowing what was going to happen.”

“When’d it stop?”

“When my sister burned down your house, killing your parents.”

It was out. The thing that they had both being stepping around. The reason Chris left, the reason Peter was so angry, the reason they broke up.

Silence had come again. Chris was waiting for Peter to storm out. All those years ago, they had agreed never to talk about it. Never mentioning that that was the first time Chris had ever seen Peter cry, or the fact that Chris’ sister, Kate, tried to kill her own brother, telling them both that if she couldn’t be with Peter, no one should. Never mentioning that by the next morning Gerald had beat Chris and kicked him out of the house, so he had to finish school living with John’s family. Never mentioning Gerald forcing Chris to continue with the family business and continuing to beat him even though they didn’t live together. Never mentioning that Talia dropped out of college to take care of her brother and try to give him a normal senior year of school. Or never mentioning that Peter couldn’t find comfort in his friends, his family, or even his own boyfriend but was able at the bottom of a bottle. Never mentioning any of it ever.

But Chris couldn’t do that, so he did the only logical thing he could think of, he ran away. He ran away from everything. Ran to LA for college, working for the branch out there. Never keeping in contact with anyone, hoping they’d forget him. Chris tried to force himself to forget, to be happy with others. Making new friends and dating again. Eventually, he found Victoria and they eventually had Allison. He was happy. At least he believed he was.

But when he looked over, Peter was still there. He sat there like he hadn’t heard Chris.

“Can we pretend?” Peter asked stirring his coffee. “Can we pretend that that never happened? That the last few years didn’t happen?”

“They did happen, Peter.”

Peter rolled his eyes.

“I’m married.”

“To a woman that you don’t even love. Don’t roll your eyes, Chris, I can tell.”

“How?”

“Because every time you talk about her, your eyes don’t sparkle the same way they do like when you used to talk about me, or whenever you talk about your daughter. You love that girl, but you do _not_ love your wife.”

“Fuck you, Peter.” Chris spat, getting out of the booth.

Peter grabbed Chris’ wrist. “Don’t lie to yourself. You even said that your marriage was practically over.”

“I said ‘probably’.”

“What’s the difference?”

“There’s a possibility that it won’t happen. There’s a possibility that we’ll still be together even after this.”

“Do you really want that?”

Chris paused. Did he?

While Chris was distracted, Peter took the opportunity to pull the gold wedding ring off Chris’ finger.

“Give that back, Peter.”

“I have a proposition for you.” Peter said inspecting the ring like a jeweler.

“No,” Chris tried to grab the ring.

Peter moved the ring away. “Listen, Chris. I think you’ll like my offer.” A wolf-like grin plastered on his face. This was a Peter Chris hadn’t be privileged to see, the lawyer that could charm a courtroom. When Chris didn’t move, he continued. “I’m going to put the ring on the table, and you can put it back on. You can put it back on and go back to your picture perfect life.” Chris waited, he knew there was more, another option. “Or, you can put this pretty ring in your pocket and come back to my place.”

“You’re insane, Peter. Do you really think I’m going to cheat on my wife?”

“Now Mr. Agrent, I never said anything about sex. I’m simply looking to continue our conversation somewhere else. But if that’s where your mind went, I’d be more than willing to comply.” Peter got out of the booth, grabbed his wallet, and put two twenties and the ring on the table. “Now, the ball’s in your court, Chris. What are you going to do?”

With that, Peter left the diner.

Chris looked at the ring on the table. What _did_ he want? He could put it back on, go to the hotel alone and live his life in LA, and everything would go back to how he thought his life should play out. How his father wanted his life to be.

Or, he could pick up that ring, put it in his pocket, and follow Peter. He’d pretend for a little while. Pretend that nearly 20 years didn’t happen, and they’d never broken up. But what would come of that?

So what could Chris do?

Chris picked up the ring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who lied and is making this into a longer story with multiple chapters... I just couldn't get this story out of my head, and I've been flip-flopping on if I would actually do a second chapter. And now I have and will be doing more. Don't know at the moment how many or how frequently I'll update but I will.

Whatever over-inflated confidence that let him take that ring off of Chris’ finger was slowly leaving him. It was an idiotic and, most importantly, reckless thing to do. What was he thinking? Did Peter really think that Chris would follow him out? That he’d abandon a life that Peter knew nothing about for a day of fun? No, he didn’t.

But he hoped.

Looking into the rearview mirror, trying to see if Chris would exit the diner, Peter could see the desperation in his eyes. That wouldn’t do, he had a reputation to maintain. So without thinking, he put his sunglasses back on. At least he could pretend that he wasn’t anticipating the outcome.

It was like when he got the phone call from Chris all over again.

After a long day going back and forth from the courthouse to his office, all Peter wanted to do was eat dinner, have a glass (or bottle, he hadn’t decided) of wine, and watch whatever mindless show was recommended to him on Netflix. But right before he was able to leave, his office phone rang. Normally, he’d let it go to voicemail and check it the next day, or let his assistant handle it. But being so late, he had already let his assistant go home and knowing something could change in any of his cases at a moment’s notice, he answered it.

“Hale & Hale Law Firm,” he said packing up the last of his paperwork that he had planned on reading while he ate.

“Um…Yes, I’m looking for Peter Hale?” The voice asked, probably thinking he’d get a machine instead of a real person.

“Speaking.”

A silence followed that gave him pause. Before he could ask who was calling, the voice spoke again.

“Hi Peter, it’s Chris.”

The world seemed to stop.

“Um…Agrent?” Chris said like there was need for further explanation. There was only one Chris that Peter knew.

“Yeah. So…what…how are you?” He rolled his eyes. Why did he sound like Derek talking to a girl he liked? This was a person that left Peter at his most vulnerable. He should be angry; he should slam the phone down and never answer it again. But he couldn’t. Something was physically making him stay on the line.

“Good. Well, not…Anyway, I’m going to be in town, and I wanted to know if you’re free to grab lunch together.”

Was Chris asking him out? A small part of him was hopeful but was quickly overshadowed by the more rational part of his brain. No, he wasn’t. According to Chris’ social media, he was married and had a daughter. Why would someone leave and not get in contact with anyone just call out of the blue after 20 years to go on a date?

“I’ll have to check my schedule, Christopher.” Peter said with the confidence he usually reserved for opponents in the courtroom. “What day will you be here?”

“I’ll be there Wednesday, and I’ll—”

“That should be good for me.” He interrupted. “I’m free at 1 p.m.” He wasn’t, but he could take the day off. His sister might hate him for ditching work, but he’ll make it up to her. “There’s a diner near the sheriff station that I frequent. It’s called Debbie’s. Meet me there and we can talk.”

“Okay…” Chris sounded stunned; he was trying to comprehend what was said to him. He was about to say something else, but Peter hung up.

Somehow during the conversation, Peter had sat down in his office chair. He didn’t remember doing it but there he was. What did he just agree to?

There was a knock on his door. He didn’t pay attention to it.

“I know that you’d probably like to drink the night away,” Talia said after she opened the door, “I know I do, but you’re always…” She noticed her brother’s almost catatonic state. “What’s wrong?”

Peter looked at her before he was able to speak. “I just got a phone call.” He stated slowly.

“What happened?” She asked seriously, closing the door behind herself. “Was it was for one of your cases?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Well, what is it?” Realizing that it wasn’t work related, Talia relaxed and walked over to one of Peter’s guest chairs.

“It was Chris.”

“You’re kidding,” she gasped, falling into the closest chair. Peter nodded his head. “What did he want?”

“He’s going to be in town.”

“So, it’s true.”

That got Peter’s attention. Did other people know he was going to be back in town, and he was the last? “What is?”

“I got a phone call from a friend at the hospital…”

“I don’t know why you don’t just say Melissa.” Peter rolled his eyes. _She was my friend first, by the way._

She sighed and continued. “As I was saying, I got a call telling me some interesting news.” Peter rolled his eyes again. Leave it to his sister to give ‘interesting news’ a dramatic pause. “Gerald passed this morning.”

That _was_ interesting news. It was no secret that after the fire, there was no love between the Hales and the Agrents and the two that really kept that going was Peter and Gerald. Every time they saw each other in person, there was always a shouting match that would ensue. It didn’t matter if it was on the street, or the grocery store, or on one very memorable occasion a restaurant. And even when Gerald was diagnosed with cancer four years before, Peter made it his life’s mission to anger Gerald until his dying breath. It seemed to have happened sooner rather than later.

“So, the devil is returning to his kingdom?” He said with a smirk.

It was time for Talia to roll _her_ eyes. True, she understood the anger Peter still held on to, and she would never forgive Kate or Gerald, and a tiny part of her would say Chris as well, but she had let most of that anger fade away years ago.

“So, what did he want?” She asked truly interested. It had been years since anyone in town had seen him, and the only reason she knew he was still alive was because Peter would cyberstalk him.

“He just said he was going to be in town.” He was trying to be casual about it, but Talia knew her brother and stared at Peter until he continued. With a sigh he did. “He wants to meet.”

“Are you going to meet him?”

“Wednesday at 1 o’clock.”

Talia chucked to herself, hoping Peter didn’t hear it. Some things never changed. Just like in high school, Peter would act like a puppy around Chris. She’d never tell him that, but when he started dating Chris, her brother was like a completely different person. Not in a bad way, but he was softer, wasn’t so quick to anger. He wasn’t so much of that defensive dick that everyone grew to know. Quickly, her mood shifted. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Well, I have a meeting with David Whittemore that day. I can probably move that until later on…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She knew she was using her ‘big sister voice’ but it was important. “Are _you_ going to be okay?”

He thought about it. Was he? Could he be? There was only one answer to that question.

“I don’t know.” He answered honestly. It was too much to think about at one time, too many emotions that needed to be looked at carefully. Talia watched her brother, knowing that if he wanted to talk about it, not that he ever had, he would. “I don’t know.” He said again and finished putting all his paperwork away. It looked like Peter wasn’t going to talk about it.

But then he did. To Chris of all people. He caused yet another scene at another restaurant with another Agrent. But this time, he was waiting for this Agrent and hoping that he was chosen.

There was movement coming from the diner. A young couple exited, swinging their little girl between them.

_This is stupid,_ Peter thought, giving a sigh and leaning his head back. It didn’t happen all those years ago, why would it happen then?

A knock on the window next to him startled him. He didn’t jump but he did flinch. Thinking it was John, a man that even though he was the sheriff he still acted like a teenager, Peter turned towards the noise about to give him a piece of his mind. But the words died in his throat. It wasn’t John, it was Chris.

“Am I still following you to your house?” He shouted since Peter hadn’t rolled down the window. He was squinting from the sun.

Rolling down the window, Peter nodded.

“Do you still live with your sister?” Chris tried to be light but wasn’t that successful.

Peter laughed despite that. “No, she kicked me out years ago. Said I’m a bad influence.”

“I don’t doubt that,” he muttered and then said, “Just go slow, I don’t remember my way around here. I almost got lost to the hospital.”

“You remember where the house used to be?” Chris nodded. Even after all those years away, he still remembered where Peter’s family home was. “It’s close to there. If you lose me, just find my car in the driveway.”

“Okay,” he nodded again. “But just on the off chance, try not to get too far ahead?”

“I can’t promise that, Chris.” Peter smirked.

“Of course, Peter.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you there.” He moved over to a car Peter couldn’t ever see Chris actually driving. It must have been a rental.

Before Peter turned on his car, he looked into the rearview mirror one last time.

He was being stupid. _Something_ was going to wrong.

But he didn’t care.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, if you already read this chapter but I reread it mostly to help with the next one and I noticed typos all over the place. So I fixed it and added something that I got too lazy to include the last time. So the moral of the story? Don’t rush my self-editing.
> 
> If you hadn’t read this chapter before then completely disregard that previous message and read on.

Following the out of place Lexis down the streets of Beacon Hills added yet another layer of how surreal the day had been. Looking around, he again marveled how things were the same but vastly different; Chris really wasn’t lying when he said he got lost trying to find the hospital. For a while, he followed Peter smoothly, at every stop light they hit, he was right behind the Lexis, but as they traveled further into town, Peter would pull farther away. At one light, Peter went through the yellow causing Chris stop at the red.

Waiting at the light, he watched a few kids, about his daughter’s age, most likely going home from the high school up the road. One of the boys hung off another both laughing at something most likely stupid. It reminded him of John and Ricky. They always laughed at the most ridiculous things. Behind them were a small group of girls and boys, three of the boys were wearing lettermen jackets, most likely from football or lacrosse. For Chris, it was like watching his friends and himself again. David would be talking about the last game, Talia would pretend to listen, Melissa would be talking to Peter, and at the back of the pack Chris would be walking alone. It wasn’t like they were shunning him; he choose to hide in the back so no one would notice him, it was a technique he had learned from home. But after a while, Peter would turn around and pull Chris closer to the group. Involving him into the conversation.

A loud honk broke him out of his memories. For a second he wondered how long he’d been sitting there. Moving forward, he noticed that he couldn’t see Peter’s car any longer. That didn’t bother him since he vaguely remembered where he was. True it had been a number of years, but the neighborhood looked almost identical. And he figured, Peter wouldn’t begrudge him to drive around a bit.

Turning down a side street, Chris remembered a park that was in the area. His friends and him would hang out there all the time, especially when they were in high school since it was one of the places they would get high. There weren’t that many kids in that block back then and it had a weird concrete climbing structure in the playground. Chris chuckled as he remembered that they used to call it ‘the Hippo’ since that what it kind of reminded them of. They would go inside, and smoke mostly, but also talk and laugh at each other too.

“We’re going to get in trouble,” Chris said looking around before climbing into ‘Hippo’.

John took a hit and then immediately started coughing. He never could get the hand of smoking. “What’s the worst that could happen?” His voice scratchy from coughing. He passed it to Peter.

“If you have to go…” Peter started, letting the rest hang in the air. He knew what Chris’ home life was like, and he didn’t want to make it worse by being out. He took a hit himself and blew the smoke over to John, causing him to cough again and the others to laugh.

Chris thought about it. He was already late, what was the worst that could happen, he was already going to be beat one way or another. So with that in mind, he sat down next to Peter and grabbed the joint.

“Wait,” Talia said so loud it startled them all. “Are you really going to smoke with us?” He nodded slowly. “So you’ve finally decided to join the dark side.”

Everyone laughed, but Peter rolled his eyes. “If he hasn’t been corrupted by hanging with me,” he stated, “then I haven’t been doing my job.”

Rolling his own eyes, Chris took a small hit, only coughing at the end of the exhale. He passed it too Melissa.

“And he’s better at it then you, John.”

“Oh shut up. Beginner’s luck.”

They kept passing the joint around until it was gone. With each hit, Chris became more and more relaxed. He started to lean on Peter a little too.

“Okay,” Talia said after her last hit, “I think it’s time to head out. Rick, walk me home?” He smiled and nodded his head, then gave a wink to John, who had a sour expression on his face. “See you at home, Petey.”

“Ugh, never call me that again.” He gripped. “Tell them I’m studying.”

She laughed as she headed out of ‘Hippo’ followed by Ricky. Then John left too, muttering something about needing to go. After that David and Melissa left too, leaving Chris and Peter alone.

“You did really good, for your first time.” Peter said about to take the last hit of the joint. “How bad is it going to be?”

Chris shrugged. “As bad as it always is. Nothing I can’t handle.” He was trying to sound nonchalant about it, but Peter could tell that it wasn’t true. “I should head home.”

“Before you go,” he stopped Chris from leaving. “I want to try something. You ever done a shotgun?”

“I have no idea what that is.”

“Okay, I’m going to take a hit, and then when I exhale, you’re going to inhale.”

“That sounds stupid.”

“It’ll be fun. Trust me.” With a sigh in defeat, Chris nodded. “Close your eyes. Please.” Chris did as he was told and could hear Peter take a hit. “Okay.” He started to inhale, tasting the smoke on his tongue. It was a weird sensation, but not unpleasant. When he couldn’t feel Peter exhale anymore, he started to open his eyes. But then he felt lips on his. Before he could react, Peter moved back. “I’m sorry.” He said turning to leave.

Without thinking, Chris moved to kiss Peter again. The feeling of his best friend’s lips on his made something in him click into place. Like that kiss was the most important thing in the world. When it felt like he would pass out, Chris moved back.

“So, that wasn’t as stupid as I thought it was going to be. Can we do it again?”

Peter smiled and brought their lips back together.

A smile was on Chris’ face at the memory as he passed the park. It was unusual to not see ‘Hippo’ standing there anymore, modern play equipment took its place.

Traveling up the road, came Beacon Hills High School. He could see the students hanging out either waiting for their ride home or just spending more time with their friends. Chris remembered waiting for his father to pick him up some days. Most times, he would just walk home but on the rare occasion, his father would actually remember he existed. But when Peter and Chris started dating, Chris didn’t care either way. He would spend more and more time at Peter’s place. They’d study there, have dinner there, and one time slept there. Usually he’d leave after eating and then sneak into his room, acting as if he’d been there the whole time. But that time they fell asleep watching a movie. When they woke up, the VHS had already rewound itself and there was only static on the TV. Chris jumped up, in a panic, especially when he saw that it was only about 15 minutes until the start of school.

“Peter! Peter, wake up!” He shouted, getting his backpack together.

“What?” He groggily said. He rubbed his eyes and then yawned and stretched; his back popping slightly from the awkward angle he was in when they fell asleep on the floor. “What are you yelling about?”

“We’re going to be late!”

Peter looked to the side at the clock and nodded. “I guess we will.”

“Peter, get up!”

“Chris, calm down.” Peter grabbed for him to stop for a second. “What’s the big deal. We’ll be late, you never are so they’ll just let you go. I’ll be the one in detention.”

“I slept here, Peter. I never went home.”

“Shit,” he sighed. “Okay, go change and we’ll go.”

“Into what? I didn’t bring any clothes.”

Looking around, Peter jumped up himself going to his dresser. He grabbed a shirt he never wore and a pair of sweatpants there were too long for him. “These might fit you.” He said throwing the clothes at Chris. “I’d give you some underwear, but…”

“I’ll be fine wearing mine for another day.” Chris’ cheeks were red as he ran out of the room to change. When he got out, he saw Peter had changed himself with both of their backpacks in his hand.

“Good news, my sister can drive us to school.”

“Great. Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“Nope.”

“Peter!” Talia yelled. She stormed out of her bathroom fully dressed but her hair was still wet. “Next time you need to use my bathroom, can you make sure someone isn’t in there? And next time can you _not_ flush the toilet when I’m in the shower?”

“Yeah, yeah. Can you hurry up so we can get to school?”

Throughout school, Chris worried about what would happen to him when he went home that night. But thankfully, his friends were there to take his mind off of that even at the end of the school day.

“So are you wearing Peter’s undies too?” John asked as they sat in front of the school.

“Shut up.” Peter said pulling Chris closer to himself.

“Guys,” Melissa interjected, “we’ve been on them all day. But now that it’s been asked, did you let him borrow the lacy one’s Talia told me about?”

Chris moved away. “You have lace underwear?”

Peter gaped at his friends, he then pointed at his sister. “You gave them to me.”

“And yet you still kept them.” She said coolly.

The group laughed as Peter and Talia bickered at each other. They continued in the background, but Chris’ attention was brought away from them. He could see his father pull up and get out of his car. Even from that far away, he could tell Gerald was livid.

“Guys,” he said hopping off the ledge he’d been sitting on, “I have to go.” The group got quiet as they watched him walk towards his father. He could see Kate in the front seat, smiling her wicked smile. “I’m sorry, I—”

_SMACK!_

His cheek was on fire from the powerful slap.

“Get in the car.” Gerald hissed at him. Immediately, he carried out the command avoiding the satisfied grin from is sister. While in the backseat, he looked at his friends. He could see that most of them were uncomfortable and the slap got the attention of some of the other students hanging around. But what his focus was on was John and Ricky holding Peter back and Talia covering his mouth. He was trying to get out of their hold and probably kill Gerald.

No one ever mentioned it. It was like they pretended it never happened. Which Chris was grateful for, but at the same time he wondered why. He later found out from Melissa that Peter told everyone that was there, even the people they didn’t know, to never bring it up.

Giving a sigh, Chris pushed that memory out of his head. He looked around and realized, without purposely doing it, he drove home. Well, to be more precise, Gerald’s house. It looked exactly the same as when he left all those years ago. The key he got with the rest of his father’s belongings was burning a hole in his pant pocket.

One night, Peter dropped Chris off after a date. He couldn’t remember what they had done but it was a fun night. It was a rare occasion where Chris _could_ be dropped off in front of his own house since Gerald was out of town on business and Kate was out for the night on a date herself. They sat on the porch steps and talked, kissing every so often.

“You should head home, Peter.” He said after another so many kisses.

“But I like being here.” He kissed his boyfriend again. “With you.” Another kiss.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what time Kate’s going to get back.”

At the mention of his sister, Peter shivered. “Yeah, it’ll be better if I leave before the bitch from Hell gets back.” He got up and pulled Chris up as well. “You know I love you, but your family is…” He stopped himself from continuing that sentence. “Why don’t you stay with me? I mean you practically do already. Why don’t you just move out and you can stay at my house. That way you’ll finally get away from _those people_ ,” Peter gestured to the house, “and I won’t have to leave you at night.” They kissed again.

“You know why.”

“Well, just think about it.” He started to walk to his car but then stopped and turned around again. “And another reason to live with me: I’ll never have to see Kate’s ever again. Wouldn’t that be amazing.” He laughed as he turned around and continued.

Chris shook his head with a smirk on his face. He knew what Peter was talking about, both about his family and his sister. Kate had an unhealthy fascination with Peter, so much so that whenever they were in the same vicinity she would shamelessly flirt with him. At first Peter would politely decline her advances, but over time he would be outright rude in telling her no. But she would never stop, no matter how many times she was rejected.

After getting into his house, Chris was immediately shoved against a wall with a hand on his throat. Kate’s eyes burned with anger.

“What do you think you’re doing with Peter?” She hissed.

“We were just talking.”

The hand tightened it’s grip. “That didn’t look like talking to me.” A flash of silver was brought up to Chris’ line of sight. One of their father’s hunting knives. “Are you dating him?” He tried to say something, an answer that would get him away, but the grip was tightened again. “Don’t lie to me!” She shouted. “Peter is mine! Do you hear me?! Mine!” She moved the knife closer to his eye. “And if you don’t, I’ll make sure he’ll never look at you again.” Chris’ vision was growing dark. Kate released her hold and he fell to the ground gasping for air. “Stay away from Peter or you’ll live to regret it.”

Chris shook his head; he could still feel the hand on his throat. Looking back at the house, he realized he had to clear it out eventually. Maybe he could call someone to do it. They could pack everything up and burn it for all he cared.

Leaving those memories in the past where they belonged, he continued on his way, turning down this street and that, just trying to get as far away from his father’s place as possible. Eventually, he saw the Hale’s house. For a second he could see it on fire again, them outside watching it burn, Kate trying to kill him. But with a blink of his eyes, it was back to normal. It was rebuilt and it looked like someone was living there. He wondered who lived there and if they knew the history of the house.

Up the road, he could see Peter’s car parked in a driveway. So, he really did live down the road from his parents place. The closer Chris got he could see Peter on his porch talking to someone on the phone. Maybe he was trying to figure out where Chris had gone. Or maybe he thought Chris just left again. Not knowing where to park, he pulled into the driveway and parked next to Peter’s car. When he got out, Peter ended his call.

“I thought you weren’t coming?” There was an insecurity in his voice that Chris hadn’t heard in a long time.

“I decided to sightsee.” He said moving up the stairs. When they were face to face again, there was a moment when neither knew what to do. Should they hug? Shake hands? Kiss? No. “So, are you going to invite me in?”

For a second, it seemed like Peter wasn’t going to, but then he opened the door and proclaimed like a ringmaster, “Welcome to my humble abode.”

Upon walking in, Chris had to chuckle. From what he could see the first word would not be humble. “You call this ‘humble’?”

“Compared to other lawyers.” He retorted, walking further into the house. “You should see David’s place. Now _that’s_ anything but humble.”

“Whittemore? If he’s still anything like he was in school, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

Peter laughed. “Want something to drink?”

“Depends. What do you have?”

“Vodka, whiskey, I have a nice port.” He could see the look on Chris’ face that practically screamed ‘NO’. “I have beer?”

“I’ll have a beer.”

“When did you start drinking beer?” Peter asked moving towards the kitchen and the fridge.

“College.”

“So you learned to relax?”

Chris chuckled again. “You could say that.” After popping both caps off the bottles, Peter hand one to Chris. They both took a sip at the same time. “So.” He said looking around. “You gonna give me a tour?”

“Sure,” he said pointing to the ground. “Kitchen.” Pointing out. “Hallway. Living room.” Pointing behind himself. “Backyard.”

“Bedroom?” Chris pointed towards the upstairs. Peter nodded, taking another sip of his beer. “Want to show me it?” Peter spit the beer out, looking at Chris in disbelief. “Well you said it was a possibility. And I want it to be.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. Seeing no hesitation from Chris made him more confident. “I just have to warn you,” he put the beer bottle down and moved towards the stairs, “I’ve learned a few things since high school.”

Chris followed. “And you’ll be surprised what I learned too.”

“We’ll just have to see then.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And to reward the people who read the old chapter 3 here’s a new chapter to say sorry.
> 
> Oh and by the way, I don’t write sex scenes very often, only when I think it helps with the plot or is too important to skip. So if you were ready to read a hot and heavy scene involving Chris and Peter, you are going to have to look elsewhere.

Rolling over, he noticed the bed was still warm. Did he fall asleep? True, they went a few rounds (a gentleman like Peter would never say) (3) but in the past he’d gone even longer. Though in the past he didn’t have Chris Agrent in his bed showcasing the many new things he’d learned over the years. Peter smirked knowing he taught Chris a few new tricks as well.

Peter groaned as he stretched. Was he _that_ old? No, he wasn’t even going to dignify that thought any further. Sitting up, he looked around his bedroom. Nothing was visibly taken, after it had happened three times he had to note if anything was missing, and both of their clothes were scattered around the room. So Chris hadn’t snuck out. That was nice to know.

Getting out of bed, he put on his underwear and headed down towards the kitchen. The closer he got Chris’ conversation became clearer. At first, he wondered if someone had dropped by for a visit, but then there was talk about the funeral. Why would he be talking about that? Curiosity getting the better of him, Peter walked into the kitchen pausing as he saw Chris standing in his kitchen in his boxer briefs on the phone.

“Yes Victoria,” he sighed, his back towards Peter. “No, I haven’t yet.” He turned and saw Peter still standing in the doorframe. Not knowing what to do Peter gave a smile and then mouthed ‘coffee’. Chris nodded and went back to his call. “He didn’t say what suit he wanted to be buried in.” He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Victoria, my dad is dead. I don’t think he cares if he’s wearing the right suit or if he’s naked.” Peter tried not to laugh as he set up his coffeemaker. “Well when you get into town, we’ll go to his house and see what will be appropriate.”

Peter grabbed two mugs, accidently knocking another down. “Shit,” he whispered when the mug shattered. Chris stared at the pieces on the ground.

“No, that was me. I dropped a coffee cup.” He turned around while Peter grabbed a broom. “Just clumsy I guess. Listen I have to go and collect my father’s things from the hospital.” Peter sweep up the shards and when he was finished, he poured the coffee in the two cups that he originally pulled out. “Yes, I’ll see you later. Give Allison my love. Yes. Yes.” He sighed yet again. “I will. Goodbye.” He quickly ended the call.

“Sorry about that.” He said gesturing to the broken pieces still on the floor but in a neat little pile. “How do you take your coffee?” Peter asked bringing the mugs to the table.

Chris turned around. “Black mostly.” He moved to the chair closer to him.

“Really?” He questioned grabbing creamer from the fridge. “Is that a new thing?” Chris shrugged. They sat across from each other awkwardly drinking their coffee. _Say something._ “So, how’s wifey?” _Not that._

“She’ll be in town later today.” Chris sighed. “She’s gonna be a pain in the ass these next few days.”

“Maybe if you can tell her you’re unemployed. She’ll leave faster.”

“That’s not funny.” Peter would beg to differ. “I need to go to my father’s house.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just burn it down?” Chris raised his eyebrow. “Hey, I get to joke about house fires.”

They sat in silence again until Chris spoke. “I have to go,” he said getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen.

“Because I made a tasteless joke?” Peter rolled his eyes and followed. “Chris. Are you really leaving because of my joke?”

“No, you idiot.”

“Oh, well that’s good. I thought you forgot about my sense of humor for a second there.”

“If I don’t leave now, I won’t want to.” Peter smiled. “And I need to pretend that I’ve actually stayed the night in the hotel.” His smile fell. Right, Chris had to make it look like he was still a faithful husband. “Maybe you can meet them?”

He laughed. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“No, why would I be?”

“Are you serious? You really think it’s a good idea to introduce your wife to your ex. One you _just_ had sex with?” Chris turned away and continued up the stairs. Peter rolled his eyes and followed. When he got to his room, Chris was pulling on his pants. “Chris, do you really want me to meet your family?”

“I think you explained why that would be a bad idea perfectly, Peter.”

“Okay, that’s fine. But you do realize I will meet them at the funeral.” Chris raised his eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. “Chris, everyone in town knew who your father was, so most probably want to pay their respects.”

“And you? Why are _you_ going?”

“I want to see if that fucker is really dead.”

“What are you gonna do? Stick him with a pin?”

“No, a stack through his chest would work better.” Chris shook his head as he grabbed his shirt. “Do you want breakfast?” Peter said as he watched Chris continue to dress. That made them both pause. Why did he ask that? He didn’t cook. His extent of cooking was either ordering food or microwaving a TV dinner.

“Peter, I know you, and unless you magically learned to cook in the last twenty years, you don’t have anything that resembles food in your fridge.”

“I do.”

“TV dinners don’t count.”

Damn Chris. So what if he didn’t know how to cook? That wasn’t the worst thing in the world. “We could go to the diner. It’s close to my office and your hotel.”

“How do you know where I’m staying?”

“Chris, even when you were in town there was only two hotels. The Grand Martin Hotel or that run down place at the edge of town, which is still just as run down and seedy. Now I know you don’t have a job, but I don’t think you want your daughter anywhere near that second option.”

Rolling his eyes, Chris put on his shirt but didn’t reply. “Fine,” he eventually said. He was mostly dressed, just missing his shoes.

“Great. Let me take a shower and we can head out.”

Quickly leaving his bedroom, more like escaping, to the bathroom, Peter’s inner thoughts were racing. But the consensus was that he was an idiot. They had just gotten back together…No, they just had lunch once and had sex once (3 times). Chris was a married man and his wife was going to be in town in a few hours. What the hell was he thinking?

Looking at himself in the mirror, Peter could see a few scratches where fingernails pushed in too deep. And two bite marks: one near his right nipple and one on his collarbone. That second one also looked as if it had a hickey forming next to it. At least it would be hidden by his clothes. He turned on the water and waited as it got to a good warm temperature. Scratching his stomach, Peter felt some of the remnants from the night before. God, he walked around his house like that. He didn’t even do that in his twenties. Sticking his hand under the water he could tell it was close enough, so he quickly took off his underwear and got under the water.

What was he thinking? Why didn’t he stop at any point the night before and kicked Chris out? It would’ve been easy.

But he didn’t want to. He wanted the familiar touches and sounds. They were deeper but just as sexy. Both of them groaning in ecstasy while they…

Peter was half-hard. He switched to a cold and finished his shower that way. After washing up, scrubbing certain places with more focus, he turned off the water and started to dry himself off.

“Hey Chris,” he called while he finished and wrapped the towel around his waist, “depending on what time your family gets into town, we can have lunch as well.”

There wasn’t a response.

That wasn’t like Chris. Unless he didn’t hear.

“Hey Chris?” Peter shouted opening the door.

Still nothing.

_Did he leave?_ _No, he’s probably on the phone._

Peter walked to his bedroom to see if Chris was in there and to grab his clothes.

“Chris?” He called out again, looking around the bedroom when he got there. No one was there. The dinning room, the kitchen, the living room. All empty. Peter took a calming breath and looked outside. Chris’ car was gone. He left without saying a thing.

_Fucker._

Well, at least his TV wasn’t stolen.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Peter,** _

_**My family just got into town. I need to meet them at my hotel. Text me when you get the chance.** _

_**-Chris** _

Quickly adding his number to the bottom of the note, Chris folded the paper and placed it on the counter where he had found the paper and pen. He wondered if he should’ve put it in the bedroom or maybe even said something to Peter, but from Victoria’s text there wasn’t any time. He wished that she had told him that she was closer to town when she had called earlier. Making sure he had everything with him (keys, wallet, phone) he ran out the door, locking it behind himself, and getting into his car. At least he had told Victoria that he was going to the hospital, something he had done the day before, and already had all of his father’s belongings. At least the past two days proved he was still good at lying.

The drive through town, was faster than when he somewhat followed Peter. There were more people on the road, it being still early in the morning, but other than that it _was_ faster.

Pulling into the hotel’s parking lot, he instantly saw his wife’s car. The bright orange-red Mustang could easily be spotted in _any_ parking lot. Before getting out of the car, Chris looks in the rearview mirror to see if it looked like he just woke up. Or that he had sex the night before. God, he probably smelled like it. Why didn’t he jump in the shower that morning? _Because Peter was in there…_ Chris rationalized. Taking a deep breath, he got out and headed for the front door of the hotel. Immediately, he can hear his wife’s voice asking aggressively for him.

“Victoria,” he called, getting the attention away from the hotel clerk. “I thought you said you were still a few _hours_ out.”

Victoria huffed seeing her husband. Allison on the other hand looked up from her phone and gave a smile.

“Hi Dad. We just got here,” she looked over at her mother and shrugs.

“Where have you been?” Victoria demands.

“At the hospital, exactly as I said.”

“That’s not what she said,” she pointed to the receptionist, who had an expression as if she had regretted a life choice that led her to being to that moment.

“Ma’am,” she tried to be professional but after being confronted by Victoria for more than five minutes it was slipping, “as I said before—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted, “you just said that you hadn’t seen him.”

“Ma’am,” the desk clerk’s patience running thin, “I can’t give information about—”

“That is not—”

“Victoria.” Chris had to stop the madness, “I’m sorry,” he directed his attention to the receptionist, “this is my wife. I was out running an errand and,” turning his attention back on Victoria, “I didn’t know when they would arrive.” Back to the clerk, “But now, if you’ll allow me to apologize again.” Victoria huffed. “And trust me when I say, you’ll never have to deal with my wife again.” A surprised laugh escaped Allison, the desk clerk suppressed a smile, and the anger rolling off Victoria was worth it. Instead of looking at his wife, he turned to his daughter. “Here Allison,” he pulled the key card out of his wallet, “here’s the key for the room. Why don’t you two go up, drop everything off, and meet me back here so I can take you two to breakfast.”

Allison practically ran to grab the card and physically dragged her mother to the elevator. Before the doors closed, she yelled for the room number. Chris chuckled as he told her, hoping she heard it before the doors closed.

“Again, I’m sorry about all that.” He said turning back to the hotel clerk.

“It’s alright,” she smiled as she handed him a new key card. “Made my morning interesting.” She started to type something onto the computer but slowed down. “I do have to say, I didn’t see you leave this morning.”

“I didn’t sleep here,” he cautiously said. When nothing was further said, Chris moved away and continued to wait for his family. A minute later, his daughter came from the elevator, alone. “Where’s your mother?”

“She said she didn’t want to go.”

Chris suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Of course. Victoria was pissed off and her only form of attack was to be rude and distant. “Fine,” he sighed. “I know a diner nearby. We, at least, can grab some breakfast.”

Allison smiled and followed her father out, they both gave a wave to the clerk, who smiled back, before they left the lobby. Walking the few streets to the diner, Chris asked his daughter how she was holding up. She rolled her eyes and informed him that _she_ should be asking him that. He scoffed at that idea, he wasn’t feeling anything other than wondering if and when Peter would contact him.

“What was it like living here?” Allison asked as they crossed the first intersection.

“It was like LA.”

“Dad,” she huffed, “I highly doubt that.”

He laughed. “Okay, you have a point. It was pretty quiet.” Quick flashes of his father yelling at him played in his head.

“Why don’t you ever talk about your childhood?”

“I have.”

“I don’t remember hearing anything about you growing up.”

“Well…” He tried to think of something.

“Is it because of grandpa?”

Chris froze. That was one reason. “Something like that,” he muttered.

When they reached the diner, they were quickly seated in the same booth he had been in the day before with Peter. The waitress was different, but it felt the same.

“Christopher Agrent,” a boisterous voice called out, startling them both.

Looking up, he could see John and his son walking over to them. There was another boy with them, but Chris didn’t know who it was. “John, you don’t need to shout. I saw you yesterday.”

“I’ve seen you twice in twenty years, I think I get to do that. You with your family?”

“My daughter actually. John, this is Allison.”

“You can call me Sheriff, everyone else does.”

“Maybe it’s because you are,” John’s son muttered sarcastically.

“I wouldn’t say anything if I was you, Stiles. You’re still grounded for that stunt you pulled last week.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he brushed off. “Hello again Mr. Agrent.”

“You too, Stiles. Is that a friend of yours?” Chris could tell that the unknown boy was staring at Allison like a love-struck puppy.

“Yeah, this is…” Stiles realized where his friends attention was. With a sigh he continued. “This is Scott.”

“Melissa’s son,” John added.

“Hi Scott,” Allison said, and if Chris didn’t know any better she was flirting. Scott visibly shivered when she said his name. That wasn’t good.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “We’re gonna wait outside, Dad.” He grabbed Scott’s collar and dragged him away. “And no bacon!” He shouted before pushing his friend out the door. Scott was still staring at Allison, no matter what was in his way.

“Yeah, yeah.” John muttered. “So how’ve you been doing, Chris?”

“Good, took a drive around town yesterday. Saw that the ‘Hippo’ was gone.”

John laughed. “Yeah, that happened a few years ago. Have you seen everyone from the past?”

“Just you and Melissa so far.”

“How about Peter?”

Chris licked his lips. Should he say something? “No.” He settled on lying.

“You probably will at some point. If all else, you’ll see him at the funeral.”

“Yeah, probably making sure Gerald’s dead,” he remembered Peter saying that earlier.

John chuckled. “And where’s your wife?”

Before he could say anything he saw Victoria stroll into the diner, looking as if the place was beneath her. He could even tell she had freshened up by putting on some makeup and changing her clothes.

“John, I’d like you to meet my wife, Victoria.”

“Nice to me you,” he stuck his hand out. She looked at it, probably trying to see if she’d catch anything from it. Eventually, she reluctantly returned the gesture. “I always wanted to meet the woman who was unlucky enough to be settled with this guy.”

She smiled. If there was anything she liked just as much as money, it was hearing people make fun of her husband. Pushing Allison over, she sat down in the booth too.

The sound of the front glass being pounded broke them apart. Stiles was pointing at his watch as he tried to keep Scott from looking in. John rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” He muttered. “Well, it was nice meeting you two. I have to go put in my order. I’ll see you at the funeral.”

“Yeah,” Chris said about to sit down again but stopped. “Hey, John, do you know anyone who can help me on Saturday?”

“I might be able to. What do need done?”

“Cleaning out my father’s house.”

John froze. For a few seconds he just blinked but then he snapped out of it. “Sure, I can. I’ll even bring my son with me.”

“Great, I’ll talk to you later about it.”

When the sheriff left, he could feel his wife’s calculating gaze on him. A thousand questions where on the tip of her tongue but nothing came out. She would’ve asked every single one of them but every so often someone would come to the table and give them their condolence and to ask if they needed anything. He repeated that he didn’t and that he’d see them at the funeral. But throughout the meal, Victoria would look at her husband with that same look. It became increasingly uncomfortable for Chris to be stared at that way, but he let it pass.

“We need to look at your father’s clothes,” Victoria said, placing her silverware to punctuate her sentence.

Chris took a sip of his coffee. “Yes, we can later today.”

“I think we should now.”

He sighed. “Yes, Victoria.”

I pulled out his wallet and paid the bill, leaving a nice tip. He could tell Victoria wanted to say something about that but wisely kept her mouth shut. As they left the diner, Chris saw someone walking towards them that was very familiar.

“Talia?”

She looked up from her phone. “Chris? Is that you? It’s been years,” she went to hug him. She embraced him, holding him tightly.

“How have you been? I heard you married Ricky.”

“We’ve been great. So, is this your family?”

“Yes. Talia, this is my wife Victoria and my daughter, Allison.” He said gesturing to each when he introduced them.

“And who are you?” Victoria asked, she might have not meant to be rude but that’s how she came off.

“Victoria,” he growled, “this is my old,” Talia cleared her throat, “my friend from high school, Talia Hale.”

“Hale? As in Peter?” They both looked at her in shock. Chris couldn’t remember _ever_ mentioning Peter. “Gerald talked about him every time he visited.” That was news to him.

“My brother.” Talia answered. “Have you seen him?”

He couldn’t look at her knowing that if he said anything it would be reveal the night before.

“No, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him.” Victoria said coldly. If the only things she knew about Peter was from his father, there was no way it was anything positive.

“Why don’t you come over tonight?” Talia asked. “I’d bet Ricky would love to see you and you can see Peter too.”

“Talia—” he started but was interrupted by his wife.

“That would be delightful, but I don’t think we could leave Allison in the hotel all night.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Allison interjected but was quickly covered up.

“Nonsense, she can spend time with my kids. She’s about my youngest age.”

“Well, I’ve heard a lot about Peter and would like to see what he’s like for myself.”

“Well, he can be a lot to take at first, but I bet Chris…” She looked over at his but saw him slowly shake his head and plead with her. He knew from the expression on his face something would slip but didn’t know how fast she’d get it. It turned out it was instantly that she knew what was going on. “Oh my God,” she was angry but quickly recovered. “I’m sorry, I just forgot someth—”

“Talia, it would be great to see your family.” Chris stopped her from backing out. She stared at him as he discreetly nodded his head. “Did you need us to pick something up?”

“No,” she was uncertain but continued, “I can’t think of anything. I’ll let Richard know you’re coming and invite Peter too. He told…” He shook his head again. “That he had a new client coming in so he might me late, but if he knows you,” she paused to see if he would react, and when he didn’t she continued, “will be there he’ll be eager to join.” She looked at her wrist, thinking she had a watch but it was too late to correct herself so she tried to excuse herself anyway she could. “Well, I need to get to the office. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yes,” Victoria said noticing Talia’s nervousness.

“Chris, you remember where the house is?”

“No, I—”

“The old house? It’s in the same place.”

“You’re kidding me. I went by yesterday and wondered if someone rebuilt it.”

“That was me.”

“So Peter lives near you.” Chris said but quickly realized what came out of his mouth.

Talia’s eyes widened. She knew. It was only a speculation before, but now she knew for certain. _Fuck._

“I need to get to work,” she tried to get back to normal, “I’ll see you three tonight.” Without a goodbye she left them, power walking down the street. If she could’ve ran without looking suspicious in her suit, she would’ve.

“Did you sleep with her?” Victoria so tactfully accused.

“Victoria.” Chris glared at her. “No, I didn’t. She’s a friend from high school. I knew her and her brother.”

“Did you sleep with her brother?”

Rolling his eyes he shook his head. If he kept that up something was going to shake loose.

“Dad,” Allison spoke up, “are we going to grandpa’s place?”

“Yeah, let’s get a car and head over.” He started to head back to the hotel’s parking lot but stopped in front of his wife. “And if I did, what would you do?” He whispered in her ear so Allison couldn’t hear. Without waiting for an answer he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I finally got this done. I was planning to finish this chapter weeks ago, but that didn't happen. Life got in the way, but I got if done, a few weeks later.
> 
> So, thanks for reading and if you want to request a song for me to use or an idea for a story or just want to chat, you can hit me up on either twitter (https://twitter.com/musiclove9151) or on tumblr (musiclove915).


	6. Chapter 6

“Did you fuck Chris Agrent?” Talia screeched, barging into Peter’s office. Peter’s eyes widened as he stared at his sister. Peter’s assistant, Mark, looked somewhere between running out of the room and running for the hills. Behind her, the other employees at the office paused trying to look into the doorway. Talia then realized what kind of situation she had just created at work. “I’m sorry.” She said in a calmer, more professional voice. “Would you excuse us Mark?”

“Certainly,” he squeaked out, gathering some papers, and running out of the room.

“Sorry again.” She closed the door behind the assistant.

“Save it.” Peter sighed; it was too early for this shit. “What the hell was that?”

“I saw Chris a few minutes ago.” Peter raised an eyebrow as if saying ‘And?’. “He was with his wife and daughter.” The same eyebrow he had raised twitched. _God dammit, Peter._ “Are you kidding me? Did you actually sleep with a married man?”

“Not the first time,” Peter smiled.

“That’s not funny. Peter how did this happen?”

“Need pointers? Are you and Richard having problems in the bedroom?”

“We have three children, two of which don’t live with us anymore and the last in is that great phase where she doesn’t want to spend any time at home. So…”

“Okay, I get it. Jesus.”

“So, how did this happen? You had lunch with him. At what point did you think, ‘You know what would be a great thing to do? Let’s fuck around with a married man’.”

“I didn’t plan to.”

“But you did.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yes, Talia, I did. And just so you know, I deeply regret it.”

That made her pause. “What?”

“He left this morning. Didn’t say goodbye, didn’t even leave a note.”

“Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like Chris. I know it’s been a few years, but people don’t change that much.”

“Well, it did.” He aggressively opened a folder to get back to work but then shut it again. “I can’t wait for this funeral to happen so he can leave again. The faster that happens, I’ll never have to see him again.”

“You’re going to hate tonight then.”

“Why?” He asked squinting at his sister.

“Because I invited him and his family to dinner tonight. And you’re invited.”

“Then I decline.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, Talia, I do.”

“No, you don’t,” she repeated opening the door. “See you tonight.”

Peter gave a disgruntled sigh. As the older sibling, Talia usually got her way. But as a younger brother, Peter knew how to play the game.

***

Like the brat he was planning on being that night, Peter arrived at Talia’s house an hour later than when she had requested his presence. He walked the few blocks over, seeing that it would just be a waste of gas to drive over. Along the way he stopped by and chatted with every person that he saw. Most of them wondered why Peter Hale was talking to them, but he still did it. When he got to the house he didn’t see Chris’ car or any unfamiliar vehicle at all. He checked his watch just to see if he was actually still early. The front door opened revealing Talia, who then leaned against the doorframe.

“I’d figured you’d try something like this, so I told Chris not to come over until later.”

“So, you know me. Good for you.”

“Get inside, Peter.” He went to walk passed her but was stopped when his sister stretched her arm across the door opening. “You come late, and you didn’t bring a gift? It’s like you were raised by wolves.”

“Worse,” he muttered as he pushed her arm away, “I was raised by you.”

With a smirk she followed him to the kitchen where her husband and son were preparing dinner. Well, Richard was attempting to help while Derek was the one actually cooking. From the look of it, Richard was delegated to making the salad while his son did everything else.

“What are we having for dinner, chef?” Peter asked, stealing a cut piece of cucumber.

“Spaghetti with meat sauce.” Derek said quietly browning some ground beef.

“Isn’t that a little too simple?”

“Peter,” Richard chastised.

Derek shrugged, a little uncomfortable. “It’s something that can feed a lot of people.”

“Well, when you make _me_ dinner, I expect a nice steak dinner.”

“Then you can do it yourself,” he snarked.

Peter smirked. He’d never say it out loud, but Derek was his favorite of all of Talia’s children.

“Oh, c’mon, Derek,” Laura said coming into the room draping her arms over his shoulders. Their sister, Cora followed behind and grabbed a piece of carrot before settling next to her mom. “It isn’t like you have anything better to do.”

“Unlike you, I work, Laura.”

“Yeah, but what do you do after? Remember, little brother we shared a wall while you were in high school.”

His ears started to turn red, as he pushed his sister away. “Shut up, Laura,” he growled. The glare he sent her would have made a normal person cower in fear but to his family it was like an angry puppy.

“Behave you two,” Talia told her two eldest children. “Let’s have a pleasant night everyone.” She then looked at Peter, warning him in particular. He raised his eyebrow in challenge. What did she think was going to happen? It might not show all the time, but Peter did know who to act like an adult.

A knock at the door stopping any further warnings. When Talia left she gave another warning look to the family.

“Okay,” Cora said when her mother was gone, “what was that about? Who’s coming to dinner?”

“An old friend of ours.” Richard said looking at Peter.

“So?” Laura asked trying to get a taste of the sauce, but Derek hit her hand with the wooden spoon.

“They’re Agrents.” Peter answered, hearing the two siblings bicker. They stopped after hearing that.

“As in Gerald? I thought mom said he died.”

“His son.” Richard explained.

“And my ex.” Peter continued.

The Hale children looked at their uncle in surprise. He’d never revealed anything about his past before, so they were in for a treat.

“This is amazing, Talia,” Chris said as they got closer to the kitchen. “It looks like it did when we were kids.”

“Yeah, thank God my dad took so many pictures. We were able to renovate the place almost identically.” She entered first and gave one final warning look around the room. “And here is everyone,” she said in a way as if she didn’t know they were going to be there.

The moment Chris entered the room, Peter felt like he couldn’t breathe. Fuck. Why did that man have that effect on him? Even if Peter was pissed off about being ditched that morning, Chris could still get a positive reaction from him.

“Chris Agrent,” Richard shouted dumping the utensils he was using and practically running at the man. When he was in range, he hugged Chris, picking him up a bit off the ground. Victoria visibly tensed. “It’s been years. Man, you look old.”

“At least I don’t have any grays, Ricky.” He said with a chuckle.

“Nice try. You being blonde can only help so much. I at least look distinguished with my salt-and-pepper.”

Chris’ wife relaxed, but when she saw Peter her eyes hardened.

“You must be Peter,” she said moving towards him. He harsh tone made Peter grimace, but he was able to school his face to his lawyer expression.

“And you must be the lovely wife, Victoria.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I bet from Gerald, so that doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“You speak very ill of the dead.”

“I spoke ill of him when he was alive, so why change that now.”

Victoria was shocked. She’d never met an opponent quite like Peter, but she wasn’t going to concede to defeat yet. The analyzing look she gave him was if she was trying to find any chink in his armor.

“Let’s go to the dining room and have dinner.” Talia tried to not sound as uncomfortable as they all most likely were.

Awkwardly, they went to the other room, Derek staying behind to serve the food. His sisters, on the other hand, eagerly followed to watch the rest of the impending drama. Richard served the adults some wine, and water to the kids. And even though Laura was 22 she was served water as well, no matter how much she complained. Talia raised an eyebrow and the complaining stopped. A few seconds later Derek entered with one plate. He placed it down and sat down. He was about to dig in when he noticed everyone looking at him.

“What?” He asked with the fork almost at his mouth.

“Dear nephew,” Peter chuckled, “when you said you would serve, I think we assumed you would serve all of us.”

“I’m not a freakin’ waiter,” Derek muttered and then took a bite.

Talia’s left eye twitched. Peter was trying not to laugh, that was a big reason why he loved his nephew.

“I’ll serve everyone,” Richard offered trying not to laugh himself. “Cora come help me.”

“But—”

“Now, Cora,” he commanded.

With a sigh she got up. “Tell me what I missed,” she whispered to her sister.

“Of course.”

“So Peter,” Victoria asked when Cora and Richard left, “what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a lawyer.” She was visibly shocked. “Are you telling me no one’s ever told you that? I know Chris doesn’t say much, but I’m surprised Gerald didn’t.”

“We’re the shareholders of our firm.” Talia added.

“Are you the only law firm in town?”

“No, there’s also Whittemore & Son.”

Peter laughed. “They get the more interesting cases. We mainly handle divorces.”

“Whittemore? Why does that name sound familiar? Isn’t that the lawyer that represented—?”

“That was David’s father.” Talia interrupted. “Now he took it over and trying to get _his_ son to follow in his footsteps. And how that’s going the next Whittemore to take over might be Jackson.”

“Actually, it might be Jackson’s little girlfriend who will.” Peter joked.

“I’m surprised a law firm would still be in practice when they couldn’t win such a big case.”

“What case?” Chris asked.

“Kate’s.” The room froze, but Victoria didn’t notice and continued. “I’d have thought that they lost their license.”

“Why?” He choked out.

“Gerald told me all the time that she was innocent.”

Everyone at the table stared at Victoria as if she had started masturbating on the table. Derek was about to take another bite of the pasta but put it down and pushed the plate away, he was done. The sound of dishes breaking shattered the silence.

“It’s okay,” Richard called from the kitchen. “Everything’s okay. Cora can you grab the broom?” There was no response, so she must’ve gone to get it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Peter hissed.

“Peter,” Talia and Chris warned at the same time.

“No, I can’t let this continue.” He turned to Chris, completely ignoring his sister, and then turned sharply to Victoria. “Kate Agrent murdered our parents over twenty years ago.” Victoria gasped.

“Two counts of first degree murder and one count attempted.” Chris said rubbing the side of his neck like he could feel the hands around his throat.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Victoria accused.

“Mom,” Allison said, reminding everyone that she was still there, “do you really think Dad wants to talk about that?”

“I think we should go,” Laura said getting up. “Derek, want me to give you a lift?”

“Yes,” he got up as well, “I really want to leave.”

They both left, kissing their mother goodbye as they went.

“Well, this night has been fun.” Talia sighed. “Allison, dear, why don’t you go into the kitchen and spend some time with Cora.” It looked as if Victoria was about to say something, but Chris encouraged her to go. “Richard! Can you—”

“It’s already on the way.” He answered. He then appeared in the doorway. “Pepperoni okay, Allison?”

“It is Mr. Hale.” She followed him briskly into the kitchen.

“Okay, so this has been unpleasant. I think this night is over.” Peter said grabbing the bottle of wine to top off his glass. “So Chris, did you know you married an idiot?”

“I beg your pardon?” She snapped.

“It’s a reasonable question. What kind of person marries into a family without knowing anything about them. Was it about status? Or money?”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“I see people like you at least five times a week. It becomes boring after a while.”

“We don’t have to say here and listen to this.”

“Then don’t,” Talia said grabbing the bottle from her brother. “You can leave at any time.”

“Let’s go, Chris.”

“Actually,” he said pulling out the keys from his pocket, “you can go back to the hotel. Alone.”

“I’ll take Allison—”

“Don’t. She’s making a new friend. And you always say she needs more friends.” Chris smirked. She snatched the keys and left without a word. “Sorry about that.”

“You really know how to pick them.” Peter remarked.

“Well, he did choose you.” Talia smiled.

“So, one less for pizza?” Richard came back into the room. The three nodded. “Thank God. We’re going to need something stronger then that.” He went over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of scotch and four tumblers. “So what did it? What was said to get her out of here?”

“I insinuated that she was nothing but a gold-digger.” Peter raised his glass.

“How are the girls?” Chris asked.

“Getting along like a house on fire.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Sorry, not what I meant.” They just stared at him, glaring. But then they started to laugh. “You guys are sick.”

“And you wouldn’t have us any other way.” Talia cooed. “So, I’ve been wanting to know since I met your _lovely_ wife, where did you meet?”

“We had a few courses together. She was failing most of them and I was at the top of most of my classes. So she asked me to tutor her.”

“And at what point did you want to get in her pants?”

“Peter,” Talia and Richard scolded together.

“It’s okay. Originally, I didn’t.” Peter raised his eyebrow not believing a word. “But one night I wanted to feel something, so we had sex. And 9 months later we had Allison.”

“When’d you get married?” Peter probed.

“A month after she found out she was pregnant.”

“So if you knocked me up, or the other way around, you would’ve stayed?”

“You know why I left, Peter.”

“I think I heard the doorbell,” Richard said before drinking the rest of the scotch. “Talia, can you help me find my wallet?”

She looked at her husband knowing damn well that his wallet was in his back pocket. She then turned to her brother, seeing if he wanted her to go. From the look in his eyes, she knew.

“Sure,” she got up bringing her glass with her. She then picked up the bottle and took it with her.

The moment they were gone, Peter moved closer to Chris. “You’re an asshole.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “And why is that?”

“For leaving.”

“Yeah, I think we got that. I left town and—”

“Not for that, you jackass. You left this morning.”

“My family got into town.” He was confused about the anger.

“Okay, and you couldn’t tell me? Leave a fucking note?”

“I did.”

“What? No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, Peter, I did. I had to go through your kitchen drawers to find paper and something to write with. I told you why I left and gave you my number to call me.”

“And where did you leave the note?”

“On the counter by the sink.”

Peter closed his eyes. Of course. It was a simple mistake, Chris didn’t know. The counter next to the sink was in the direct path of the air conditioning vent and seemed to push any paper into the sink. He had learned that the hard way when he was washing a cup one morning and saw a piece of one of his legal documents completely drenched from the wash. So, that meant Chris’ note suffered the same fate. Who was the asshole again? He remembered.

“Do you actually love her?” Chris was thrown by the change of topic. He was about to answer when Peter spoke again. “Do you love me?”

“Where is this coming from?”

“Why’d you leave?”

“You know why.”

“No, Chris, I don’t. I thought we worked. I thought that we were moving passed—”

“You weren’t moving passed anything, Peter. All you did was drink.”

“I’d just lost everything. My parents, my home…”

“I lost both of those things that night too.”

“Yeah, we’re not talking about Gerald’s A+ parenting skills. So you left because I started drinking? Is that all?”

“No, that is not all. You hid away from the world. You didn’t confide in the people you still had in your life. For fuck sake, you didn’t talk to Talia or me for two months. You didn’t even realize I wasn’t living with Gerald anymore.”

“What?”

“The night of the fire, Gerald beat me so badly, and then kicked me out of the house. I went to live with John and his family. John’s father threated Gerald with legal action if he ever found out I was still being beaten. It didn’t really work since I was still beaten at work.” He sighed. “We all have fucked up shit happen to us, but we talked to someone about it. You didn’t and I wasn’t going to stay and wait for you to, while I was still hit by my own father for then next few years. I wasn’t going to do that.”

“So you escaped?”

“From what, Peter? From my father? I was still working for him until recently. From being beaten? Even in LA whenever Gerald would visit he’d leave perfectly fine and I’d be black and blue for a few days. Or was it from you?”

Peter winced. He didn’t need to know the rest of that. The doorbell rang. Chris leaned his head back, closing his eyes. Peter saw this as the perfect moment to make his own escape. He didn’t need that. He didn’t need questions from twenty years finally answered. If they weren’t answered then, why bring it up?

The walk back to his house was faster. There was no one out to stop and talk to, not that he’d want to stop and talk. Opening his door, he slammed it shut and leaned on it. Why did he have to ask those fucking questions? Shaking his head, he made his way to the kitchen. And there it was, in the sink, a note with his name on it. He could grab it, it wasn’t wet, and read the note. Call or text Chris, apologize.

But that wasn’t what he did. He turned on the faucet and shoved the note down the drain with a butter knife. And when the paper was as far as it could go, he turned on the garbage disposal for an extra measure. Satisfied with himself, Peter went to bed and let laying dogs lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this took longer than I wanted to complete. But it's finally finished. Excited for the next chapter, the one with the funeral. A lot of things are going to come out and it'll be very exciting.
> 
> Like always, if you like this and have another prompt for me, or just want to chat you can message me on twitter (https://twitter.com/musiclove9151) or on tumblr (musiclove915).


	7. Chapter 7

After an eventful night, Chris and Allison were dropped off at the hotel by Richard. He had said he’d be available to help that Saturday after having a very similar reaction to John when he was told what they’d be doing. In all the years they’d been friends, no one had ever been inside of the Agrent house. There were a few reasons, the biggest being Chris didn’t want to subject his friends to his family. And after all those years, it seemed he had done just that but only with his wife.

Walking into the hotel, they saw Victoria waiting in the lobby. At first, Chris wondered if she didn’t have a key, and she had been waiting for them, but when they approached, she gave Allison the key card and told her to get some sleep. Allison looked as if she didn’t want to, but Chris told her himself to go on up. As he watched his daughter head for the elevator, he noticed that there wasn’t anyone at the front desk. Not unusual for the time of night, but still Chris didn’t want to talk there.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he said after the elevator doors closed. Without checking to see if he was followed, he walked out the front doors. “I think we need to talk.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me any of that?”

Chris stopped and turned to his wife. “Ask what you really want to know, Vic.”

“You’re bisexual.”

She didn’t ask, but Chris still answered like it was. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t a secret.”

“If that was the case, why am I barely learning about it?”

“Because you didn’t care,” he chuckled. “What did Gerald—”

“Why do you call him by his first name? Why not just say ‘my father’? All the years we’ve been together you’ve always called him by his first name.”

“He stopped being my dad the moment he hit me for first time, and he stopped being my father when he kicked me out of his house when I was 17.” He waited for her to say something, but from the expression on her face all of that was news to her. Gerald always wanted to make himself look like a fucking martyr. “What did Gerald tell you about Kate and the Hale’s?” 

“He said that Kate was innocent, he never went further than that.”

“And you were never curious as to why she was in prison?”

“It didn’t seem important.”

He had to roll his eyes. Chris had let Victoria’s stupidity pass for too long. “And what about the Hale’s?”

“That what happened was a tragedy, but Peter had what was coming to him”

His right hand twitched, itching to punch something. “You know I had a relationship with Peter?”

“I figured that out after tonight.”

“Did you know that Kate tried to date him as well?”

“He never mentioned that.”

“Gerald didn’t know.” And if he did, he’d have died a lot sooner.

“Are you still in love with Peter?”

Chris looked at his wife and wondered where that was coming from. First with Peter and then with Victoria. “It’s late. We have the service in the morning.” He said heading back to the hotel. It was too late for any of that.

***

The next morning, Chris woke first and headed to the church. Someplace he didn’t remember ever going to growing up. True his father was a devout man, but he never instilled that into his children. The priest said Gerald was there every Sunday, and was going to be missed by many people. Chris didn’t know who would but there apparently were _many_ that would miss the late Mr. Agrent. The priest, someone who looked to be as old as Chris was but wasn’t from town and didn’t know all that had happened, then lead him to the casket. He had prepared himself to see the man he had once called father laid out in one, but it was still unnerving.

Staring at Gerald, it was like the man was sleeping. He even looked peaceful.

Chris closed the lid, much to the dismay of the priest. He just said it was one of Gerald’s requests and it was let go. It wasn’t, but no one needed to see Gerald Agrent at peace. That man was not when he was alive so why should he be in death.

It wasn’t much later that Victoria and Allison arrived themselves. Victoria wanted to see Gerald, but she didn’t understand why the lid was closed. Even when the priest informed her of Gerald’s request. She seemed confused at first but didn’t make anything of it. After that, people from town came in as well. They said their condolences to Chris and then went to sit in the pews waiting for the services to begin. Chris saw a few people he hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to, like David and his son or really getting a chance to talk to Melissa but they were there. He even saw John and his son, John wearing his sheriff uniform, and Talia and her family as well. But there was no sign of Peter. Knowing him, he’d make a grand entrance just to spite Gerald.

The services took longer then Chris thought was necessary and one of the only things that Gerald _had_ requested was carried through. He had wanted Allison to read at his funeral, so she did. She wasn’t very comfortable being up there in front of a room full of complete strangers, but she handled herself beautifully. Not that Victoria noticed since she was crying so hard. Every so often she’d play with her necklace pendent. The pendent that Chris hated with a passion.

After the service was the burial that was close to the church, so most people walked over, Chris and his family included. Watching the casket being lowered into the ground was surreal, it meant Gerald was actually gone. Chris was finally free.

“How you holding up?” John asked, clapping Chris on the back. Stiles was next to his dad staring at the hole in the ground as well.

He smirked as they lowered it further down. “Good.”

“Good to hear.” If he heard the relief and satisfaction in his friends voice he didn’t remark on it. “I wanted to invite you and your family to my house. Just the old gang,” Stiles grimaced at his dad using the word ‘gang’, mouthing the word in a mocking way. “Don’t mock your old man, Stiles.”

“I will when if you agree never to use the word ‘gang’ again.”

“Not gonna happen.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “So will you be able to make it?”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll tell Victoria and Allison.”

“Oh great,” Stiles muttered, “I’ll get to watch Scott make puppy eyes at Allison all night.” He then noticed both adults looking at him. “Sorry.”

“You can hang out with your other friends. Jackson will be there…” Stiles gave his father a dirty look. “Okay, how about Cora? You guys talk right?”

“Yeah, dad, we do. We’ll just wallow in singlehood together.”

“If I give you fifty bucks,” Chris said grabbing Stiles’ attention, “can you make sure that making puppy eyes is as far as Scott gets?”

“What about Cora? I think she’d like a part of that action.”

“I’ll give her the same amount. Do we have a deal?” He stuck his hand out to the teen.

Without a second thought, Stiles started shaking the offered hand. “You got yourself a deal.” He said with way too much glee before dashing off.

“You know you created a monster, right?”

“I’m planning on it.” Chris winked.

***

The Stilinski residence was almost exactly as Chris remembered it; not much had changed since he lived there for that year. For the second time since being in town, the first time was being with Peter, did he feel like he was home again. Just seeing the house brought a smile to his face. When Victoria asked about his smile, he told her the truth, that that was the house he spent his last year in Beacon Hill in. She accepted the answer and didn’t say anything else. She was probably still chocked up from the funeral, still fiddling with that fucking necklace. They were greeted at the door by Stiles, who even before allowing them in asked for his payment then. That brought Victoria out of her stupor. Of course it did, it involved money. But Chris just chuckled and pulled out his wallet handing the teen $50. Like father, like son. Stiles then stuffed the bills into his pocket and welcomed them inside. Victoria looked as if she wanted to say something but seeing Peter stopped anything from coming out. Chris shook his head and walked over to the man.

“I didn’t see you at the funeral.”

Peter shrugged. “Got there late so I stayed in the back.”

“I thought you wanted to make sure he was dead.”

“It didn’t matter,” he shrugged again. He then sighed. “Chris—”

“Peter Hale,” Victoria said, trying to sound important, “I wanted to talk to you.”

For a split second, Peter looked pissed, but it quickly morphed into what Chris was calling his ‘lawyer face’. “And I wanted to talk to you, Victoria. I wanted to apologize.” That caused Victoria to pause. Her hand coming off the necklace for the first time in hours. It surprised Chris as well. And from the expression on Talia’s face it was surprising to her as well. “What I said last night was uncalled for.” Richard was looking at his brother-in-law with a strange look on his face. Even Derek and Laura looked at Peter the same way.

“Well, apology accepted.”

Peter smiled, and then noticed the necklace Victoria was wearing. “Beautiful necklace, Victoria. Is that the Agent crest?”

“It is,” she said fiddling with it again, proudly showing it off.

He smiled again and walked away looking at Chris trying to figure him out.

“Well, that was unexpected,” she said as they watched Peter walk away. “That’s good too, since we’ll never see him again. After we get back—”

“I sold the company,” Chris said not taking his eyes off of Peter.

Peter, himself, stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around.

“What?”

“I sold the company.”

“You sold your father’s company? You sold Agrent Arms?”

He finally looked at Victoria. “Yes, I haven’t had a job for the past two months.”

“What have you been doing all that time?”

“Mostly spending time at café’s and parks.”

“What about money?”

“What about it? I got a large buyout when I sold to Alpha Ammo.”

“You sold the company to them?” Her voice was growing louder and shriller.

“Yes, Victoria. You’re asking a lot of questions today.” He said with a smirk.

“What’s going to happen when the money runs out?”

“Well you could get a job,” Peter chimed in.

Victoria glared at him. “Stay out of this. This doesn’t concern you.”

“It does when you make a scene in the middle of a room.” He waved his arms around proving his point. John, Melissa, and David had been coming from the kitchen, Talia, Richard and her eldest two kids were in the living room, and the teens were near the staircase when everything started. They were all frozen staring at the trio.

John was the first one to come back from this trance of the car crash happening in his house. “Stiles?”

“Got it,” he replied quickly. “Hey guys, wanna come up to my room?” He lead them upstairs, practically dragging Allison away. If it wasn’t for Scott, Stiles would be still fighting her.

“Derek,” Talia said, “go upstairs and make sure nothing happens?”

“But— “He started but she gave him a look that silenced him. With a sigh he went upstairs as well.

“Mom?” Laura asked.

“Go home.” Laura nodded and left.

“What’s going on?” David asked, feeling completely lost.

“I’ll explain later,” Melissa said dragging him back into the kitchen. “Help me make coffee.”

John stayed in the kitchen doorway, looking at the situation he invited into his home.

“Do you still love Chris?” Victoria sneered bringing the attention back to her.

“Would that make you feel better if I did?” Peter countered.

“Peter, stay out of this.” Chris said.

“Of course, since you’ve been able to do anything by yourself all these years.”

“Fuck you, Peter.”

“Well, you did a few days ago.”

“I knew it,” Victoria screeched again. “You cheated on me?”

“Now is not the time to talk about infidelity, Victoria.” Chris turned to her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Who gave you that necklace?”

“You— “She hesitated.

“No,” Peter smirked.

“Shut the fuck up, Peter.” He growled. “Who gave it to you?” She wasn’t about to answer so Chris did it for her. “My mother had a necklace just like that. My father gave it to her after they got married. She wore it every day, until the day she died.” Peter looked at the pair confused. So did everyone still in the room. “When did you start fucking Gerald?” The air was sucked out of the room. “It was some time after Allison turned 10,” he continued not caring any longer, “as far as I could tell. But that’s only speculation.”

“Chris—”

“You know, we had a shitty marriage but of all the men you could have picked, why did it have to be my father?”

“We loved each other.”

“No, he didn’t. He only loved a few things in life. But you weren’t one of them.”

“You’re wrong.” Her voice cracked.

“Did he give you that necklace or did you find it?” She hesitated. “He’d never willingly give that to anyone. It’s a family heirloom. And since you were married to me, he didn’t consider you family.” He went over to her and gently unhooked the necklace. When it was off he tilted her head up to look into her eyes. “We’re getting a divorce. You can keep the house, and the car if you want. But when you leave, I’m keeping Allison with me. You will not fight me on that, or I’ll be forced to take the house and car away from you. And I know a hell of a divorce lawyer,” Peter preened a bit. “Would you be willing to represent me, Talia?” Peter deflated a bit. Talia just nodded. “So, Victoria, do we have an agreement?” Unshed tears threated to fall but she nodded. “Goodbye Victoria.”

Wiping away the unshed tears, she looked at Chris one last time hoping to plead with him. But seeing no sympathy in his eyes, she turned around and left. The room could still feel the tension from what had just transpired.

“Good riddance,” Peter just couldn’t say anything. The next moment, he was on the floor, pain radiating from his jaw. Peter looked up and saw John and Richard holding Chris back.

“Do you ever shut up?” He growled again. “I’m not a teen anymore, I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”

“Oh really,” Peter said rubbing his face, “Daddy’s dead and you finally grow the balls to stand up for yourself?” He got up from the floor.

“Fuck you, Peter.”

“Well, now that you’re getting a divorce you can guilt free.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Peter?” Talia said, pushing him.

“You know why I left, Peter? The real reason?” The statement was enough for John and Richard to lessen their grip on him. “It wasn’t because I didn’t want to watch your self-destruction, it was because I wanted to escape from you.” Everyone stared at Chris with wide eyes. “I didn’t want to be here, constantly reminded why you wouldn’t look at me. Why you wouldn’t talk to me. Why you wouldn’t even touch me. I left because of you, Peter Hale. I fucked Victoria because I was lonely. I married her because I had no one in my life. My life is the way it is because of you.”

Peter was breathing hard, his eyes glossy, and his teeth were clenched.

“Burn in Hell, Chris Agrent.” He growled before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected, right? I have been planning that for a while so it's good to get that out. Probably thinking I just put that new tag late didn't you? If you've been following the order Peter's chapter is next and it might not be a good one for him. And I also put how many chapter are left. I'm planning to end it at 11 but we'll see if that happens (it most likely will). Okay, until next time.
> 
> And as always you can comment or find me on twitter (@musicthea9151) or tumblr (musicthea915).


	8. Chapter 8

_My life is the way it is because of you._

Those words. Those fucking words kept running through Peter’s head. The worst part was that those words opened old wounds that he had thought were long healed. After Chris left, he wondered why? What had happened, why didn’t he say anything when he left, was it Peter’s fault? It had to be. Why else would Chris leave?

When he shook his head, the thoughts went away. When he shook it again, he became lightheaded and grabbed for something, anything. His grip found the bar counter he’d been in front of for the past three hours. It seems that no one notices him swaying, not to the loud pulsing music but because he just couldn’t say when. Not that he wanted to stop at that point.

“Another shot, Peter?” Adam asked.

For the last three years, Adam has been one of the bartenders at the only gay club in town, The Jungle. And according to Peter, he was the best one they got. Adam knew how to mix any drink, was friendly but also knew people’s limits, and the best part of all he was hotter than the Sahara Desert. The only flaws the man had were that he was straight and married. No matter how hard Peter flirted with him, Adam never let his eyes wander from his wife. Being a bartender was a job and nothing else.

“I think you already know the answer, Adam.” Peter was trying to lay it on thick but since he was most likely slurring, it wasn’t coming off quite as well as he hoped.

Adam smirked as he poured another shot. He was leaning away from the hard stuff so Peter could walk out of the club that night. “Hard day at work?”

“Ran into an ex.”

He grimaced. “That sucks.”

“Actually, I’ve been constantly running into my ex recently, that’s the problem.”

That caused Adam to pause, almost overfilling the glass. “Bad break up?”

“You can say that,” Peter laughed grabbing the shot glass and taking the shot. “He’s the one that got away.”

“Really?” That was news to him. Since they started seeing one another at The Jungle, Peter never gave too much about his personal life out in the world. True, there were some things he’d learned or already knew, like the fire and what Peter did for a living, but something like an ex was a big revelation.

Peter nodded pushing the glass forward, asking for another shot. Adam grabbed another bottle, one filled with water, and poured the shot. He figured Peter didn’t need to wake up in the morning and regret the night before. “Do I ruin people’s lives?”

“Okay,” Adam breathed out, grabbing the shot glass from Peter’s hand, and pulling out a bottle of water. Peter looked at him weirdly, opening his mouth to say something but Adam stopped him by opening the bottle and putting it in Peter’s hands. “I don’t really know you,” he tried to remember that all he was, was a bartender, “and all of our interactions have been here while I serve you drinks, but you don’t seem like someone who purposely ruins someone’s life.”

“But I have, haven’t I?”

“Well, you _are_ a lawyer.”

With a laugh, Peter leaned onto the bar, his vision clearer. “If you weren’t married, I’d bend you over this bar.”

“What makes you think I’d be the one to be bent over?” He smirked.

“Want to test that theory?”

“Not in this life.”

“Shot?”

“Water.” Adam gave another smirk and went to fill other patron's orders.

Seeing no other way out of it, Peter took a sip of the water. But before the bottle hit his lips, he was bumped, splashing some of the water all over himself.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir,” an apologetic voice said. If Peter wasn’t irritated by being wet, he certainly was by being called ‘sir’. He glared in the direction that the voice came from but stopped dead seeing who talked. It was Chris, not as he was when he yelled at Peter earlier that night, but as he was when he was a teenager. Peter blinked and the person slightly changed, his features changed to look somewhat like Chris but not. “Are you okay, sir?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been wet before.” Peter tried to bring his usual swagger back into his voice. “Maybe not by someone as handsome as you, but there’s a first time for everything.”

The guy, the only thing that Peter could realistically call him, blushed. Then in a surprising turn of events, he licked his lips. “Maybe I can help dry you off.”

Peter liked where it was going. “Or do the complete opposite.”

***

There were a few perfect places to get a blowjob, according to Peter. In his house was at the top of that list since he could get one anywhere since it was his own place. And he had just about everywhere in his house. The next was a car. The convince of a car was they could go somewhere secluded or not be outside. But not while driving. As sexy as road-head sounds it was dangerous in practice. After that was the bathroom of a bar or club. It was loud already so you could moan and not be heard, but also there was usually some other couple doing exactly the same thing or more in the next stall. And at the bottom of that list, when there was nowhere else to go, or a simple blow-and-go, was an alley.

And that was where Peter was at that moment. His clothed back was still getting scratched by the rough brick on the outside of The Jungle. It wasn’t cold but having his pants around his ankles wasn’t stopping the breeze from chilling him every so often. And the mouth that should’ve been keeping his mind off of all of that, wasn’t very good. He wasn’t terrible but just inexperienced. If the guy practiced more he’d get better. But at the end of the night, Peter wasn’t going to be picky, he didn’t deserve to be.

He moaned, not because he felt pleasure but because it had been a while since he had.

“You like that?” The guy asked.

“Yeah,” Peter sighed. He wasn’t really into it, but his partner was so green he didn’t know the difference. He rolled his eyes and was about to stop everything but looking down, it was like seeing teenaged Chris again. Peter licked his lips as he grew harder. “Lick me.”

The guy pulled off. “What?”

“Lick me, don’t just suck. Change it up.” The guy did what he was told licking up and down. “That’s good. Now use your mouth again, just not so hard this time.” Again, with a little instruction, he did what he was told. Peter started to moan in earnest as she still pictured Chris down there, but like on Wednesday when he came back to town. “Go deeper.” He petted the head going down on him. “You keep this up and I’m gonna—” He groaned as he came. His back was still pressed up against the brick, but he could barely feel it coming down from his high. His body longed for the breeze to help cool his body.

“That was amazing.”

He chuckled. “It sure was, Chris.”

“My name’s Jason,” he said standing up. It wasn’t Chris. It was never Chris.

“Of course it is,” Peter said pulling up his clothes. He was bulking his belt when he noticed Jason lick his lips, trying to figure out if he liked the taste. “Take a shot of vodka.” Jason looked at him. “It’ll get the taste out of your mouth.”

“Thanks, but I liked it.” He shifted his feet not knowing what to say. “Can we do this again sometime?”

Peter looked up after making sure everything was back in place. “No.”

Jason nodded. “I have to get back inside,” he said awkwardly as he backed away but then stopped. “You know, I might be a young naïve guy, but maybe you should talk to that Chris guy. Tell him how you really feel.” With that as his final words, he left going back into the club. Wise words for someone so young. But was Peter going to follow that advice?

“Fuck that,” Peter muttered heading to his car and going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has taken a lot longer to write then I wanted but I finished. And I'm sorry for the short chapter. Okay, so I know I said I don't put sex into a story, but I did say that I only did if it furthered the plot and that's what I did. The next chapter will be Chris's and it's about them cleaning out Gerald's house. That one will be longer and then only two more chapters until I finish this story.
> 
> As always thanks for reading and you can find me on twitter (musiclove9151) and tumblr (musicthea915). Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

For the third time in the past week, Chris found himself sitting in the driveway of Gerald’s house. The first time he remembered Kate, the second with Victoria, but the third time it was Gerald himself that plagued his mind. All the yelling, hitting, and inhuman approach to parenthood came screaming back to him.

“Dad,” Allison broke him from his memories. She looked at him with the same confused/scared expression she had after Victoria had left. “Is mom coming back?”

“No,” there was no need to lie. “We’re getting a divorce. And later on in life, you can have a relationship with your mother again, but right now it’s best to have some distance.”

She nodded as if she understood, but she was most likely still confused.

“Is this grandpa’s place?”

“Yeah, this is…” he had to force himself to continue, “my father’s house.”

“What was he like?”

No lies. “He was a bastard and I’m glad he’s dead.” She licked her lips not knowing how to respond. Hell, Chris didn’t know how to either, so he didn’t expect his sixteen-year-old daughter too. “Hey, Ally? What do you think about moving here? Is that a bad idea?” He hadn’t fully thought that plan through, but it was possible. Chris could find a house in Beacon Hills and he could even get a job there, something that was completely different from the only job he knew.

She thought about it for a bit and then smiled. “On one condition.” Chris raised an eyebrow telling his daughter to continue. “I get to date whoever I want.”

Chris chuckled. “Depends on who. If it’s Stiles, I’d be more than happy to agree.”

“Dad,” Allison whined as only a teenager could.

He chuckled again as he noticed a sheriff cruiser and a dark blue SUV pull up. “Come on, they’re here,” he said opening his door. “Maybe you can spend time with your new boyfriend?” He laughed as he heard Allison whine again. Walking over to the cars, Chris saw everyone who was there to help. It was more than he expected. From the cruiser came John, Stiles, and Scott. And from the other car, Richard and Derek stepped out. Derek was a surprise since Chris couldn’t remember Richard ever saying anything about bringing him.

“Chris,” John said as the moved closer, “good to see you again.” The sentence sounded awkward and forced. After everything that went down at the Stilinski’s place, Chris left, grabbing his daughter, and following Victoria to the hotel, and helped her pack. It was weird and bordering on masochistic, but it helped him realize that his marriage was officially over. He didn’t call John or Talia or anyone to apologize for his behavior, but he figured they understood.

“Same here.” They both stood there not knowing how to continue.

Thankfully, the uncertain moment was saved by Stiles.

“Here you go, Mr. Agrent,” he said holding out some money.

“What’s that?”

“The money you gave me.” Chris raised an eyebrow. “My dad thinks I didn’t—”

“I said to give it back because you didn’t hold up your end of the deal.” John interrupted.

“Yeah, yeah. So here’s your money back.”

Chris smiled. Just like John. “Keep it. That way I don’t have to pay you for your work today.”

Stiles grinned. “Thanks, Mr. Agrent. Drinks are on me tonight boys.” Scott looked confused at the reference while Derek rolled his eyes. The grin disappeared when John snatched the money from his son’s hand.

“And that’s why you can’t keep it.”

“Dad,” Stiles whined in the international call of teenagers. “Come on, it was a joke.”

“Dude, I think you should let it go,” Scott interjected.

“Fine,” he huffed.

“In that case, drinks are on me boys.” John mocked causing his son to groan.

Chris suppressed his laugher. “Okay, so I have trash bags and boxes in the trunk. If it’s something we can donate put it in a box, if it’s useless junk toss it, and if you see something you like you can keep it.”

“Are you sure about that last one, Chris?” Richard didn’t look convinced.

“I don’t want anything from the house.”

John and Richard shared a look but both shrugged and followed Chris as he gathered the supplies and then into the house.

It had been over 20 years since Chris had been inside his childhood home, it had been even longer since he thought of that house as such. The air was stale since Gerald hadn’t physically lived in his own house for the last few months of his life. But even before that, he didn’t really open windows or, as it seemed looking around, cleaned more than picking up after himself.

“You know,” John said looking around, “I was picturing something completely different.”

“ _House on Haunted Hill_?” Richard asked.

“ _The Last House on the Left_.”

“Yeah, it was worse,” Chris muttered. Dropping the supplies in the middle of the living room, Chris turned to the group. “Kids grab some boxes and trash bags and go upstairs. Start with the room at the end of the hall and work from there.”

“Got it, Dad,” Allison said grabbing a roll of bags and dragging Scott upstairs. Stiles gave a sigh and followed them up after grabbing a box.

“Derek— “Richard started but his son quickly stopped him.

“I know, I know, go upstairs.” He sulked up the stairs with the others.

Without further ado, Chris grabbed a bag and started throwing away old papers on the coffee table. Again the other two shared a look and continued to watch their friend.

“Don’t you want to read what those are?” Richard asked.

“They’re old contracts but since the company doesn’t exist, they’re trash.”

Wordlessly, they all started clearing things either throwing away old papers or pulling books off the bookshelves. The silence as they worked was starting to get to Richard who just had to break it.

“Did you really sleep with Peter?”

“Recently? Yes.”

“Why would you cheat on your wife?” Chris opened his mouth, but Richard kept going. “I get it, she cheated first, but why didn’t you get a divorce back when it started? Why stay with someone you didn’t love?”

“Because I didn’t have a reason to leave.”

“Cheating wasn’t a big enough reason?” John inquired.

“And after I got divorced, where was I going to go? Come back here and work for my father so he didn’t have to travel to punch me?”

“We aren’t kids anymore, Chris. For fucks sake I’m the sheriff now. If he tried that bullshit again he would’ve been in jail.”

“And how would you’ve kept him there. You know what he was like. He would’ve found a way out and gone after me again.”

“So why didn’t you leave when he kick you out all those years ago?” Richard asked.

“Because of Peter. I still loved him, but he stopped loving me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Richard darkly laughed. “Peter has been holding a candle for your dumbass since you left. Every guy he tried to date after you looked like your clone. And if Talia or I told him so, he’d get pissed and then break up with them a day later. And every guy he’s ever hooked up with it’s the exact same thing. He still loves you and I know for a damn fact that you still love him, so get your head out of your ass and do something about it.”

The silence that followed stretched on for a minute until John’s laughter broke it.

“Thank God someone finally said that. Since you’ve been back in town you two have been like you were in high school.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know that the diner you had your lunch with Peter is near the station, right? I grabbed some late lunch there and was about to approach you guys, but you were in this little bubble just like in high school. It was weird at first and then kind of sweet, and then completely nauseating.”

“You two are idiots,” Richard laughed.

Chris started to laugh too. “Maybe we are.”

They continued to laugh until they heard Allison scream from upstairs.

“Dad?” Stiles shouted running halfway down the stairs. “Can you come up here? We found something.”

The three men looked at each other and then ran upstairs, Chris leading the way. When they got up there, they noticed Derek outside the room looking really uncomfortable.

“Derek,” Richard said to get his attention, “what’s going on?”

“We found a key and saw that it opened that door. There’s some pictures, a lot of pictures, and then we found some jars in the closet.”

Chris looked at the door and noticed whose room it was. Kate’s. Her room was the only room he avoided at all costs. But he knew he needed to get in there to get to his daughter. Entering the room, Chris saw his daughter being calmed down by Scott as Stiles was looking into the closet.

“We just want to see why this room was locked,” Stiles said slinking away.

Stepping towards the closet, he could see what caused Allison’s scream. There were jars of formaldehyde animals. They ranged from frogs and small birds to a few full-sized cats in small spaces. Not knowing where they came from, and Chris didn’t want to think about that further, he closed the door. Taking a breath, he turned around and saw all the pictures littering the walls. There are pictures of a teenaged Peter plastered on every corner of the room. Every so often, there was a picture with either his family or friends in it as well but they all focused on Peter. There were a few that looked as if they were torn or there was red and black marker scribbled all over them. Those were the ones with Chris in them even the ones that showed the two of them having sex. Bile rose up to his throat. He quickly tore those down and shoved them into a nearby trash bag. He kept tearing them down until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw that it was John.

“Chris, it’s over. It happened and there’s nothing you could do to stop it. Let’s go back downstairs and talk.”

“Don’t really want to,” he said stuffing the bag more. He looked over at Allison so looked concerned more than anything. “Can you guys give me and Ally some room so we can talk?” They both nodded, leading the boys downstairs. When they were alone he turned to his daughter. “I bet you have a million questions.”

“Is this why you never came back home?”

“Something like this. You know that your grandfather wasn’t the nicest person, that’s why I kept you away from him after a certain point. Truth be told, he used to beat me when I was a kid all the way up to a few months before his death. I don’t know why I let it happen for so long, but after a while, it was like a pattern I couldn’t break even if I wanted to. But it wasn’t just Gerald, my sister, your aunt, beat me as well. That one I think happened since she was experiencing the same things as me.”

“So all those articles online were right about Kate? That she was crazy?”

“What articles?”

“Dad, there are hundreds of things about Kate online.”

“What? How long have you known about her?”

Allison shrugged. “Since I was 12 or so. Remember that family tree I had to do, well we were told to research as much as we could from our parents and after that use the internet too.”

“I remember that you got a C.”

“A C-. My first ‘bad’ grade. I included Kate into the project. My teacher didn’t appreciate it, but I became a really popular person.”

“What?” Chris laughed.

“Who else could say they had a murderer in the family.”

“Thank God you have my dark sense of humor.” He hugged Allison and kissed her forehead. When she pulled away, the smile she had was slipping.

“Dad,” she sounded serious, “if we move here, are we going to live in this house?”

“God no,” Chris replied quickly. “I’d rather burn this place to the ground then let that happen.”

“So you’re going to sell it?”

“No, I’m knocking it down. I own this place now, but I don’t want to live here, and I don’t want any other family to live in this house either.”

“What will be here?”

“Nothing as long as I live. Or as long as you are as well. And hopefully, as long as there are Agrents on Earth.”

Allison smiled and then hugged her dad. “I love you, Dad.”

He hugged her again. “Love you too, Ally Kat.” They held each other for a few moments ending when Chris kissed Allison’s forehead again. “I think we should find a place to live if we’re staying here.”

“I thought we could just live in a hotel forever.”

“Okay, smart aleck, let’s go back downstairs and finish cleaning.” Allison smiled at him and left the room followed closely behind by Chris. He paused and looked back into the room. “Go on, I’ll be a minute.” She left, reluctantly going down the stairs.

Seeing all the photos of Peter, _his_ Peter, infuriated him. If Kate was still alive, Chris would’ve killed her. She was obsessed but in the end, _he_ was the one that got to say Peter was his. And that brought a smile to Chris’s face.

Before heading downstairs, Chris locked the door again. When the house was destroyed, everything in that room would be as well. And hopefully one day people wouldn’t remember either Gerald or Kate ever existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter only after a few days? After finishing the last chapter I immediately started this one and was able to write it in no time at all. I'll be working on the next two chapters just as quickly. Hopefully.
> 
> Until next time.


	10. Chapter 10

It was Wednesday again. A full week since Peter’s life had been turned upside down. Why did Gerald Agrent have to die? Well, that was an interesting thought. That was the first time that Peter was blaming the dead man for something that actually wasn’t his fault. But if Gerald hadn’t died, Chris would never have come back. And they wouldn’t have to confront the demons of their past and analyze everything that went wrong.

“Mr. Hale?” Mark was trying to get his boss's attention. It wasn’t as if Peter didn’t zone out from time to time but that time it was different. It was as if he was in a completely different world.

“Sorry,” he said shaking his head to get back. “What were we talking about again?”

“We were talking about the Marcus’ divorce.”

“That’s right. And who are we representing?”

“Them both? They said they wanted a moderator since the divorce was mutual?” The longer Mark was taking the slower his speech got.

“That’s right,” Peter sighed. He needed to get his head back onto work. “Were there any other cases we had to go over?”

Mark looked at the pile of folders on the desk and then at Peter. “Is everything okay, Mr. Hale?”

“Yes,” he answered quickly, maybe too quick from the way his assistant looked at him. “I’m fine, I just have a lot on my mind.”

That was a lie, Peter only had one thing on his mind. There was talk that Chris had left town yet again. He and his daughter went back to LA. And just like the first time, he didn’t say goodbye.

Fuck him.

And fuck trying to work.

“Mark, I know this is extremely unprofessional, but take the rest of the day off.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on anything today, so why even try.”

“Peter,” Mark was deeply concerned by his boss, “are you sure you’re—”

“I’m fine,” he didn’t want to hear the word ‘okay’ again. He’d been hearing it from almost everyone he knew for the past few days.

“Is there anything I can get for you before I leave?”

“Some coffee would be great.”

Slowly getting up, Mark moved to the door looking at Peter every few steps as if he was waiting for something to happen. Eventually, he made it to the door and closed it behind himself. Finally alone with his thoughts, Peter slumped forward onto his desk. With his head in his hands, Peter tried to rationalize with himself that none of it was _his_ fault. Chris left on his own, leaving behind people who loved him and wanted to help him no matter what. And for what? A woman that at the first chance she got cheated on him? That was Chris’s fault, not his. Chris continuing to work under Gerald for all those years, and continuing to take all those years of abuse, that wasn’t Peter’s fault. Or him being away for twenty years when all that time Peter could’ve made a call, or sent an email none of that…

Fuck.

Without realizing, a few tears fell.

A knock on the door caused Peter to sober up, wiping his face. “Come in,” he called thinking it was Mark with his coffee. Or it could be Talia checking in to make sure he hadn’t done anything else crazy behind her back.

“Hi, Peter.” He’s startled by the voice. It can’t be. Looking up, he sees Chris in the doorway, holding two cups of coffee. “This a bad time?”

“What…What are you doing here?” The fear and hope were strong in his voice.

“We need to talk,” he said entering the room and closing the door behind himself. With it closed, Chris just stood there, nervous, and not knowing what to do. “Your assistant gave me this coffee to give you,” he awkwardly handed one of the cups to Peter. But he didn’t grab it since he was too stunned to move. Chris put the cup on the desk instead. “Are you okay?”

That seemed to snap Peter out of it. “You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you went back to LA.”

“I did. Just to grab my truck and all my clothes before Victoria could burn them. Grabbed a few things she most likely would’ve pawned off.”

“So you’re back for good.”

“Yeah, I think so.” They sat quietly drinking their coffee for a minute. “I cleaned out Gerald’s house.”

“Find more bodies?”

“A few.”

Peter was gravely still. “I was joking.”

“A few animals.”

“I was joking,” he repeated.

“My sister was obsessed with you.”

“Yeah, I remember her crush.”

“It wasn’t a crush. She had pictures of you all over her room.” He tried to enthesis without giving too much information. “She even had some intimate ones.”

“With you?” Chris nodded. “Well, thank God she’s dead.” A sick feeling grew in his stomach and the coffee wasn’t doing anything about it.

They stayed silent for a few minutes just drinking their coffees. Peter tried to figure out why Chris was there. The last time they spoke, he had asked Talia to represent him in the divorce. But since then David had said he was going to help, a way to stay in the loop since he was so confused after the funeral.

“I still love you,” Chris broke the silence. Peter looked up and saw Chris fiddling with the cup in his hands. “I never stopped. I wanted to. I tried to but I never could. And then I had Allison. The first thought I had was to just take her, leave LA, and come back here. Live with you. Raise a family, with you. But I was terrified. I was terrified of what my father would’ve done. My sister killed your family. I didn’t want him killing mine.”

“He would’ve.” Chris nodded as they let what just happened pass. “I never stopped loving you, Chris. After you left, I tried to date other guys but they…”

“All look like me?”

Peter gave a surprised laughed. “Richard?” Chris nodded again. “I’m going to have to punch that man.” They both started to laugh, letting the tension that had been over them for the entire conversation disappear. Eventually, they calmed down. “So, what do we do?”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Getting up, Peter started to pace his office. “We still love each other, so are we dating again? We never officially broke up. Not a great track record for infidelity if that’s the case. Twenty years have passed, we can’t just let that go.”

“Can we pretend?” He asked quietly, his voice growing more confident as he continued. “Can we pretend that that never happened? That the last few years didn’t happen?”

Peter started to grin. He’d never had his own words thrown back at him quite like that. “You’re a married man.”

“We can wait,” he shrugged again getting up himself.

“You have a daughter.”

“And you’ll love her, just like she’ll love you.”

“You’re insane Chris Agrent.”

“Maybe I’ve always been.”

Before Peter could further convince either Chris or himself that the whole thing was a terrible idea, he was pulled forward feeling Chris’s lips on his. Any complaints he might’ve had disappeared in that moment of clarity. True, their lives hadn’t been perfect, and they might have deviated a lot, but what could be wrong about pretending. Who was it going to hurt?

“So, can we pretend?” Chris asked letting go of Peter so the man could answer.

Peter grinned yet again. “Sure.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

_Two years later._

The graduation ceremony had just begun when Chris and Peter got there. Chris was a little irritated but his meeting with David had run a little long. They had been in talks about the business Chris want to start. He would’ve talked to Peter about it, but after the first discussion ended with them both naked, they figured it was best not to do that anymore.

“Come on, Chris,” Peter was pulling him up the stairs. “Derek saved us some seats.”

“Why is he here anyway. Didn’t he have work?”

“I think he’s finally gonna man up and ask Stiles out.”

Chris smirked at that. For the past two years whenever Stiles and Derek were in the same room Derek would be even quieter and Stiles would ramble even more than usual. They’d been dancing around each other, but whenever asked neither would admit their feelings.

“Just try not making fun of him this time,” he said before they got to their seats.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try,” he winked. “Hi, Derek, have any fantasies about Stilinski?”

Chris rolled his eyes. At least Peter did try. Derek glared at his uncle. Behind him, John leaned forward and glared too.

“Don’t make me have to arrest you, Peter. I’ve already had a very long discussion with Derek so there’s no need to embarrass him any further.”

“Behave yourself,” Melissa said next to John. “All of you.”

“Yeah, especially Chris and Peter,” David said coming up the stairs. “We all know why _I’m_ working with Chris now.”

“Did we miss any of the speeches?” Chris asked getting everyone off that subject.

“No, but Stiles should be speaking in a few.” Derek was trying to be quiet, but the pride was clear in his voice.

“You know,” Peter whispered, “Allison could’ve been the one giving the salutatorian speech.”

“Please,” David cut in, “Jackson had more of a chance then Allison.”

“Right,” Peter drawled, “that’s why she’s in the top 10 and he’s in the top 75%?”

“Scott had a better chance then Jackson.” Melissa laughed.

“Scott? Are you kidding me?”

“Can everyone shut up?” Derek growled. On the stage, Stiles was walking towards the podium to give his speech. From the look on both John and Peter’s face, they wanted to say something but refrained themselves.

They watched Stiles give a speech that made John want to strangle and then hug his son, and after was the valedictorian, Lydia Martin, gave a surprisingly touching speech. Chris had met her a few times; she became Allison’s best friend and even though she was a very polite and respectful young lady she was also very blunt. It was nice to see a different side of Lydia. With the speeches done, it was time for the graduates to get their diplomas. Allison was the sixth name called and Chris couldn’t have been prouder. He worried that the past two years had screwed her up, but it seemed that nothing changed. It was just a new school and new friends for her. As he watched her walk across the stage, he knew that it wouldn’t be the last time he’d see her get a diploma. She had been accepted to Boston University. Surprisingly, Scott and Allison had been still together those years, even if they broke up a few times but they always got back together. And he was accepted to a college close by much to her joy and Chris’s annoyance. So in the fall he’d be helping them move across the country, something _he_ should’ve done instead of going to LA. He shook his head, he couldn’t think about that, and he’d barely thought about the past since moving back home. Especially, when they moved in with Peter.

Chris grinned as he looked at his boyfriend, something he thought he was too old to call him. But then he checked his pocket for the twentieth time that day feeling the ring in his pocket. The ring for Peter.

“Did you forget your phone?” Peter asked noticing Chris pat his pocket again.

“No,” he shook his head with a smile.

Peter narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything, turning back to watch the other kids walk the stage.

The plan was perfect: after graduation, the group was going to their place so all the graduates could have one big party. John had offered to grill that night. After everyone went home, Chris and Peter would head up to their bedroom and before they could go to sleep Chris was going to ask. They would be alone but knowing Peter, it wouldn’t take long for everyone to know. No matter how late it would be. Or maybe Peter would surprise him and not say anything until the next day, so they could celebrate themselves.

“I’m proud of you,” Peter whispered and then kissed Chris’s cheek. Chris smiled and kissed Peter on the lips.

Either way, it would be perfect. And they would never have to pretend again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that’s the end. I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s read this. I really wanted to thank one commenter, Swesley7, for commenting and giving me the inspiration to continue writing this story. Thank you so much. From a one-shot to a long story that got carried away from me. I hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope you have time to read my other works. 
> 
> And this isn’t the last you’ll see Chris and Peter from this story, I have a few short stories set in this universe planned. So this isn’t the end of them or this storyline, for the time being.
> 
> So again thank you and until next time.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a song and idea you can ask me either on here or on Twitter, https://twitter.com/musiclove9151 and Tumblr, musiclove915


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